BSP sees 3.1-3.9% inflation for March
Credit to Author: MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO, TMT| Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2019 16:14:26 +0000
INFLATION will likely ease to as low as 3.1 percent or marginally pick up to 3.9 percent this month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Friday.
In a statement, the central bank said its Department of Economic Research projected consumer price growth “to settle within the 3.1-3.9-percent range” in March.
Headline inflation eased to a 13-month low of 3.8 percent in February from 4.4 percent in January.
The Philippine Statistics Authority is set to release official March inflation data on April 5.
“Higher domestic oil prices and upward adjustment in electricity rates provide upside price pressures to inflation for the month,” the BSP said.
These upward pressures “may be partly offset by lower prices of rice and other agricultural commodities due to the arrival of imports,” it added.
Easing inflation prompted the Bangko Sentral’s policymaking Monetary Board to keep key interest rates unchanged at its March 21 meeting.
After a 2018 surge — blamed largely on higher oil prices and food supply issues — that prompted five successive rate hikes, officials said consumer price growth was now expected to settle within the 2.0-4.0 percent target this year.
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