Shoppers pay for goods in Guadalupe Market in Makati City on January 13, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
MANILA - Inflation for the month of January likely settled within 7.5 to 8.3 percent range, a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas think tank said on Monday.
Price pressures likely came from higher electricity rates, water rate rebasing, higher prices of petroleum products, the uptick in key food items as well as the increase in sin taxes, the BSP's Department of Economic Research said in a statement.
But the BSP said the upward price pressures may have been partly offset by the lower LPG prices as well as peso appreciation.
"The BSP will continue to adjust its monetary policy stance at the necessary pace to prevent the further broadening of price pressures and monitor emerging price developments closely in accordance with the BSP’s price stability mandate," it said.
In December 2022, inflation hit 8.1 percent, the highest since November 2008, largely driven by the prices of vegetables including onions.
Economists have said that although the Philippine economy grew faster than expected at 7.6 percent in 2022, the majority of the population did not feel its effect due to the higher prices of commodities.
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