Inflation steady at 4.4% in April

Inflation in the Philippines was steady at 4.4 percent in April despite double-digit increases in fuel, light and water rates, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said Wednesday.


The Statistics Office said the inflation last month bought to 4.3 percent the average inflation from January to April or within the target of 3.5 to 5.5 percent set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee for 2010.

Core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, marginally increased to 3.9 percent in April from the revised 3.8 percent last March, the NSO said.

“Slower increases in the prices of food, beverage and tobacco (3.1 percent) in
April helped level inflation brought about primarily by the 5.8-percent
increase in non-food items," acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and
National Economic Development Authority Director-General Augusto B. Santos said in a memorandum for the President.

The fuel, light and water index, which rose by 17.8 percent, accounted for much of the increase in prices over the previous year, while the electricity inflation advanced by 10.3 percent in April compared to March prices, Santos noted.

“Meralco, the country’s most prominent electricity distributor, attributed
a large part of the increase in power rates during the month to higher prices of electricity purchased from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market," Santos said.

The NSO also reported that inflation rate outside Metro Manila remained
unchanged at 4.1 percent from last month and lower than 5.8 percent last
year.

The inflation rate for National Capital Region, meanwhile, was higher at 5.3 percent in April compared to 5 percent in March and 2.2 percent in April last year. —VS, GMANews.TV