Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippines saw a year-on-year inflation rate of 3.5percent in December 2020, up from 3.3 percent in the previous month, driven byprice hikes in food and non-alcoholic beverages, the Philippine StatisticsAuthority (PSA) said.
PSAleader Dennis Mapa told the press in a virtual conference that this is thehighest inflation recorded since March 2019.
Theinflation uptrend was primarily fueled by a 4.8-percent increase in theinflation of heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages during themonth, compared to the rise of 4.3 percent in November.
ThePhilippines' annual average inflation for 2020 was 2.6 percent, still withinthe government’s targeted range of 2 - 4percent, so the country has yet to consider immediate monetary easing measuresto aid the pandemic-hit economy, according to the PSA./.
VNA