Jan. inflation hit 14-year high 8.7% as prices of basic needs soar READ MORE:
to 8.7 percent from 8.1 percent a month ago and 3 percent a year ago, driven mainly by faster increases in the prices of housing, water, electricity, gas, and fuel, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Tuesday.
Also contributing to the faster inflation was restaurants and accommodation services with an inflation of 7.6 percent from 7 percent in December 2022.Higher annual increases were also observed in the indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 10.9 percent; clothing and footwear, 4.4 percent; furnishings, household equipment, 5.2 percent; health, 3.3 percent; recreation, sport and culture, 4.2 percent; and, personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 5 percent.
Michael Ricafort, the chief economist of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said that global crude oil and other global commodity prices went up after the economic reopening of China in December 2022, thereby leading to higher local prices of gasoline, diesel, LPG, and other fuels. Also, he said better weather conditions into the dry season would lead to increased production of various agricultural products that would increase local supplies and would help reduce prices, especially food prices, which account a large weight on the inflation basket.
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the President remained “on top of the situation” as the Marcos administration continues to adopt a whole-of-government approach to tame inflation especially on key food items. He said it was unfortunate that inflation has continued to increase, noting that the measures the government has taken have not yet “gone through the system.”
“I am sure the overall price level in February and every month in 2023 will be lower than 8.7 percent. Vegetable prices – especially onion – will go lower, especially during this harvest season,” he said.
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