Higher inflation due to base effects

Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said over the weekend the higher inflation rate recorded in September this year was a result of base effects.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed inflation rose to 2.3 percent in September 2016, a 0.5 percentage point increase from the 1.8-percent inflation in August.

This apparent surge was largely a result of base effects: Inflation rate in September of last year was only 0.4 percent,” Beltran said.

Beltran also noted that September’s inflation rate was still within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.

He said inflation would likely remain above 2 percent in the short-term after commodity prices rose at a faster pace in August and September.