MANILA - Inflation is "moderate" and the impact of higher taxes on consumer prices should not be a cause for concern, a finance official said Tuesday.

The full impact of higher duties on fuel, sugar-sweetened drinks and cigarettes will be reflected in February, Finance Usec. Karl Kendrick Chua said, adding the 4-percent inflation during the previous month was not due to tax reform.

Inflation accelerated to 4 percent in January, the top end of the government's 2 to 4 percent target, in the first month that the new duties took effect.

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"Two to four percent is the target. It is moderate. I don't see any concern," Chua told reporters.

Chua said tax reform could spike inflation by a "maximum" of 0.7 percent.

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He said retailers were selling mostly old stock during the first half of January, when the inflation reading was taken.

"But we have to distinguish what was induced by TRAIN, what was induced by the peso depreciation, crude oil or even profiteering," he said.

The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion raised taxes on some consumer goods to offset a reduction in personal income tax rates and help fund President Rodrigo Duterte's P8 trillion infrastructure program.