(BusinessMirror) EXPENSIVE food items pushed the country’s inflation to its highest level since the rice price crisis 14 years ago and may continue doing so this month, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
PSA data showed inflation reached 7.7 percent in October, the highest since December 2008 when inflation hit 7.8 percent, which also coincided with the onset of the Global Financial Crisis.
The inflation of food and non-alcoholic beverages was recorded at 9.4 percent nationwide and accounted for 80.9 percent of the increase in the country’s inflation print for October. Food inflation alone is pegged at 9.8 percent.
“[The] situation right now [in] October, particularly inflation. Is largely fueled by food inflation. Our food inflation [at the] national level is 9.4 percent and [we know that the] weight of the food basket in our national basket is quite high, it’s about 35 percent,” National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said in a briefing on Friday… Read More
