Inflation quickens to 2.0% as utility costs rise in January

Consumer price growth accelerated in January as a spike in housing and utility costs offset the continued slowdown in food prices, keeping inflation within the central bank's target range while prompting officials to warn of emerging upward pressures.

- By DERCO ROSAL

The consumer price index rose two percent from a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Thursday, Feb. 5. The print aligns with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) forecast of up to 2.2 percent and remains within the government's two percent to four percent annual target band.

Despite the uptick, National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said it is premature to conclude whether headline inflation will breach the four percent ceiling in the coming months.

"Whether it will breach four percent, it is too early to say because this January, we are at two percent," Mapa said.

Mapa noted that risks to potential inflation breach include already higher food prices, as well as rising costs for housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, which climbed 1.8 percent in December and were driven primarily by a 3.3 percent increase in the housing, water, electricity, and gas index.

He said additional pressure may come from restaurant and accommodation services, particularly food consumed outside the home. This sector jumped to four percent from 2.4 percent in December.