Headline inflation that plumbed a 20-month low of 4.1 percent in November is seen easing further in December to 3.7 percent, according to Moody’s Analytics.
The specialist data unit of global credit watcher Moody’s Investors Service projected moderating price pressures across the Philippines against a global backdrop of central banks scaling back interest rates as inflation eases.
This development bolster the likelihood for inflation to average 6 percent this year, lower than the 11-month headline inflation averaging 6.2 percent.
Moderating inflation of 4.1 percent in November proved better than market consensus averaging 4.3 percent and traced to lower inflation on food and alcoholic beverages that dropped to 5.7 percent during the month from 7 percent in October and on transport prices which fell by -0.8 percent in November from 1 percent the month before.
Core inflation which excluded volatile food and fuel prices, also slowed to 4.7 percent from 5.3 percent, the slowest in 15 months, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
This development bodes well for consumers who are wont to see prices climbing higher in December as consumption activities historically climb as the Yuletide celebrations heat up even past the New Year festivities.
This similarly highlights the relative success of the BSP in moderating price pressures that were highest twelve months earlier at 8.7 percent as consequence of government missteps on food prices, particularly on the staple rice which had to be imported.
