PH Inflation Climbs to 8% in November, a 14-year High

The Philippines' headline inflation soared to 8% in November from October's 7.7%, a record high in 14 years, the Philippine Statistics Authority said in its summary inflation report yesterday. Year-to-date inflation, or the average inflation rate from January to November 2022, stands at 5.6%. In comparison, the inflation rate in November 2021 was 3.7%.

The increase was due to rising prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as restaurants and accommodation services. The biggest contributors to the rise in food inflation were vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses, with an index of 25.8%. Faster annual increments were also seen among flour, bread, other bakery products, pasta and cereal (10.3%); milk, dairy products, and eggs (9.4%); and sugar, confectionery, and desserts (38%), among others.

The PSA added that relative to their annual rates in October 2022, bigger increases were also observed in the indices of commodity groups like alcoholic beverages and tobacco (10.6%); furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance (4.5%); and personal care (4.2%), among others.

The 14-year record high inflation rate, however, is still within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' inflation forecast for November. The BSP, in its month-ahead inflation forecast report on Nov. 30, projected that the inflation rate for November would settle between 7.4% and 8.2%.

The BSP added upward price pressures for November would come from higher electricity rates, rises in prices of agricultural commodities brought on by severe tropical storm Paeng, and higher LPG prices.