(philstar.com) | Updated August 5, 2014 -
11:30pm
MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) -
Inflation climbed to 4.9 percent in July on the back of higher prices of food
and utilities, the local statistics agency said today.
The Philippine Statistics Authority
(PSA) said that the July inflation rate was the highest recorded in the country
since October 2011, when inflation hit 5.2 percent.
Excluding selected food and energy
core items, core inflation also grew faster at 3 percent in July, from 2.8
percent recorded the previous month.
Data released by PSA showed that the
heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages index rose to 8.2 percent
last month. Prices of utilities, transport, and education also picked up in
July.
"Rice prices remained at high
levels in July as supply tightness continued to persist in the market,"
the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said in a statement.
NEDA Director-General Arsenio
Balisacan said that rice prices grew by 14 percent year on year last month,
higher than the 13.6 percent hike recorded in June.
By region, PSA said the highest
inflation rate remained in Eastern Visayas in central Philippines at 8 percent.
Many provinces in Eastern Visayas experienced tightness in food supply after
the region was battered by typhoon Haiyan last November.
Inflation in the January to July
period averaged 4.3 percent, which was at the high-end of the government's 3 to
5 percent target for 2014.
Balisacan, however, said that the
Monetary Board's recent move of hiking interest rates by 25 basis points would put
a brake on potential price increases in the coming months.
NEDA pushed for the implementation of
short-term interventions such as importation to prop up food supply.
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