Inflation cools to 1.5% in Nov

AS GROWTH IN FOOD PRICES SLOWS

- By LOUELLA DESIDERIO

The slower increase in food prices led to lower inflation in November.

Inflation eased in November as food items posted slower price increases, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In a press conference yesterday, Deputy National Statistician Divina Gracia del Prado said that headline inflation — the rate of increase in consumer prices — eased to 1.5 percent in November from 1.7 percent in the previous month. It was also lower than the 2.5 percent reading in the same month last year.

The November inflation print was likewise within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' forecast range of 1.1 to 1.9 percent.

This brought the January to November average to 1.6 percent, still below the government's two to four percent target band for the year.

Del Prado attributed the downtrend in headline inflation primarily to the slower increase in the heavily weighted food and nonalcoholic beverages commodity group, at 0.1 percent from 0.5 percent in October.

Inflation for food alone registered a 0.3-percent decline in November, a reversal of the 0.2 percent uptick in the previous month, due to the slower increases in vegetable and meat prices.