Inflation to fall below government target in 2012

MANILA -- Consumer prices will likely move near the low end of the government's target of 3 to 5 percent in 2012 despite the anticipated demand for goods and services during the Christmas season, the country's state planning agency said.

Inflation rate for the first nine months of the year settled at 3.2 percent, partly influenced by lower prices of electricity, unleaded gasoline and kerosene last month, said Dr. Rosemarie Edillon of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda)-National Planning and Policy Staff.

The Neda statement followed the release of the inflation data by the National Statistics Office (NSO), which showed that the inflation rate in September eased to 3.6 percent from 3.8 percent last month.

Industry data showed that the generation charge of the Manila Electric Co., the nation's largest power distributor, was lower by P1.34 per kilowatt hour (kWh) compared to that in August. On the other hand, WESM charges declined to P8.74 per kWh in September from P14.70 per kWh in August.

Kerosene prices declined by 5.4 percent as compared to September 2011 while unleaded gasoline only moved up 0.7 percent year-on-year, compared to the 1.7-percent change to the previous period from August 2011 to August 2012.

Inflation for commodities under the food and non-alcoholic beverages group reached 3.7 percent in September, much faster than the 3.3-percent registered in August.

Meanwhile, the price of fish increased by only 6.8 percent in September compared to 7.3 percent a month earlier.

Slower upticks in inflation have also been observed in selected Southeast Asian countries last month. Indonesia was at 4.31 percent, with Singapore at 3.9 percent, Malaysia at 1.4 percent, and Thailand at 3.38 percent. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)