Philippines posts highest inflation since March 2019
The Philippines saw a year-on-year inflation rate of 3.5 percent in December 2020, up from 3.3 percent in the previous month, driven by price hikes in food and non-alcoholic beverages, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
People shop at a market in Manila, the Philippines, on August 6, 2020 (Photo: AFP/VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippines saw a year-on-year inflation rate of 3.5 percent in December 2020, up from 3.3 percent in the previous month, driven by price hikes in food and non-alcoholic beverages, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
PSA leader Dennis Mapa told the press in a virtual conference that this is the highest inflation recorded since March 2019.
The inflation uptrend was primarily fueled by a 4.8-percent increase in the inflation of heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages during the month, compared to the rise of 4.3 percent in November.
The Philippines' annual average inflation for 2020 was 2.6 percent, still within the government’s targeted range of 2 - 4 percent, so the country has yet to consider immediate monetary easing measures to aid the pandemic-hit economy, according to the PSA./.
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