The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday said the country’s inflation slightly grew for January, as prices of consumer goods and services continued to spiral upward.
The PSA made the revelation, amid the elevated food prices were noted during such period.
In a media briefing, the PSA announced that the prices of goods and services was recorded at 8.7% for January 2023.
It is deemed as the fastest since the 9.1% inflation recorded in November 2008.
National Statistician and PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa noted that the January 2023, 8.7% inflation is higher compared to the 8.1% recorded in December 2022 and 3% recorded in January 2022, he added.
“Ang pangunahing sanhi ng mas mataas na antas ng inflation nitong Enero 2023 kumpara noong Disyembre 2022 ay ang mas mabilis na pagtaas ng presyo ng Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels,” Mapa explained.
PSA data showed that electricity and vegetables, especially the high price of onions, were the top contributors to January inflation, each accounting for 1.1 percentage points (ppt).
They also reported that services in restaurant and house rentals likewise jumped by 0.7 and 0.6 ppt, as the public and private transport contributed a total of 1.0 ppt.
They other key agricultural commodities that reportedly contributed to the increase include meat and fish contributed with total of 0.8 ppt, while processed food commodities such as sugar and bread and other cereals contributed a total of 0.7 ppt to total inflation.
Earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that that inflation is expected to remain high in January 2023 despite the projected deceleration from the 14-year high in December due to the higher prices of utilities and commodities.
But the BSP made a projection of 7.5% to 8.3%.
CurrentPH News Service
