The country’s headline inflation rate slightly ticked in November but remained within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ projected range, allowing monetary policymakers flexibility for further interest rate cuts.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released on Thursday, December 5, showed that consumer prices rose 2.5 percent year-on-year in November 2024 from the 2.3 percent clip in October, but lower than the 4.1 percent posted in November 2023.
The average inflation rate year-to-date stood at 3.2 percent, which is within the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.
Core inflation, which excludes certain food and energy items, rose to 2.5% in November 2024, up from 2.4 percent in October 2024. This was lower compared to November 2023, when core inflation was 4.7 percent.
During a press briefing, PSA Undersecretary and National Statistician Dennis Mapa explained that the recent series of storms in the country led to an increase in the prices of vegetables, fish, and some meat products.
The PSA data showed that the main driver of inflation for November was the food and non-alcoholic beverages index, which rose from 2.9 percent in October to 3.4 percent in November.
Under that index, the inflation rate for vegetables, tubers, cooking bananas, and others surged to 5.9% in November, a sharp increase from -9.2 percent in October.
The inflation rate for tomatoes alone soared to 37.2 percent from -47.9 percent in October.
“(Vegetable inflation) created a spike in the prices,” Mapa said.
On the other hand, Mapa said the rice inflation rate in November has gone down.
Mapa reported that rice inflation dropped to 5.1 percent in November, down from 9.6 percent in October. Rice prices have also decreased, and further easing of rice inflation is expected in the coming months.
The PSA chief noted that the average price of regular milled rice was P49.24 per kilo in November, nearly P1 lower than October’s P50.22. Well-milled rice dropped to P54.64 from P55.22, and special rice fell to P63.72 from P63.97. Economic managers had predicted in July that rice prices would decrease by at least P5 per kilo following a reduction in import tariffs from 35% to 15%.
However, prices were still higher than in November of the previous year, when regular milled rice was priced at P46.73 per kilo, well-milled rice at P51.99, and special rice at P61.47.
Mapa mentioned that the peso’s decline against the US dollar could affect inflation. He pointed out that while fuel and lubricant prices for transportation have been decreasing since August, the pace of this decline has slowed by November.
The peso hit a historic low of P59 to the US dollar on November 26, marking its third drop to this level. It has been weakening since the beginning of the year, when it opened at P55.45, although it briefly recovered in September, reaching P55.61 on September 19.
“We will see in the coming months kung magbabago yung trend natin,” Mapa said.
According to the National Economic and Development Authority, government measures have helped alleviate inflationary pressures.
In a statement, NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the government continues to closely monitor commodity prices, particularly food, following the series of typhoons in October and November.
“Despite the strong typhoons our country faced in recent months, consumer prices have remained relatively stable. This demonstrates the resilience of our economy and the effectiveness of our policies,” said Balisacan.
“These typhoons adversely affected food supply and logistics, resulting in a rise in food inflation to 3.5 percent from 3.0 percent, with vegetable inflation accelerating to 5.9 percent from -9.2 percent deflation in October,” the NEDA chief said. (TCSP)
