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Inflation rate steady at 8.5% in April |
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The Manila Bulletin 05/06/2005
Soaring oil prices pushed consumer prices up 8.5 percent from a year earlier in April, the same rate as for the first four months of the year, officials said yesterday. "Higher prices of selected food items such as rice, bread, flour, noodles, milk and milk products, meat, cooking oil and sugar were recorded during the month," the National Statistics Office said in a statement. "Price hikes in gasoline, diesel, engine and lubricating oil and increased charges for electricity and water in selected regions also contributed to the upward movement." NSO added. The April outcome represented an increase of 0.6 percent from March, when there was a 0.3 percent uptick. For the four months to April, inflation averaged 8.5 percent, the same rate as for the headline figure in the month. The central bank last month raised its full-year inflation rate forecast to 7.0-7.3 percent due to rising oil prices from its previous target of 6.7-6.9 percent. Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation further decelerated to 7.9 percent in April from 8.0 in March, the NSO said. Inflation rate in the National Capital Region went up 0.2 percent in April to 8.9 percent, while the rate for areas outside NCR rose slightly by 0.1 percent from March. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said there was still no evidence of demand-side pressures on consumer prices as of April, a statement that analysts said boosted market expectations that the central bank will leave its key overnight interest rates unchanged after the monthly policy-setting meeting later in the day. (AFP) The central bank’s overnight rates currently stand at 7.00 percent for borrowing and 9.25 percent for lending. It raised rates last month for the first time in nearly five years to curb rising inflation but Tetangco said earlier this week the central bank did not see the need for further policy tightening in response to the US Federal Reserve’s latest 25 basispoint rate increase on Tuesday. "Core inflation shows some deceleration. Overall, supply side factors are still mainly behind the rise in prices," Tetangco told reporters. Core inflation, which excludes volatile factors such as selected fuel and food items, stood at 7.8 percent in April, or 0.2 percentage points below the March figure of 8.0 percent |
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