This from the Philippine Daily Inquirer,
"Annual inflation jumped to 5.4 percent in February, the highest since October 2006 and near the top end of forecasts, dimming prospects for a further cut in key interest rates when the central bank reviews its monetary policy next week.
"Government data released Wednesday show that inflation rose last month from 4.9 percent in January, rising for the fourth straight month. Inflation in October 2006 was also 5.4 percent.
"The central bank was projecting February inflation of 4.8-5.5 percent.
Chart courtesy of the Philippine Daily InquirerMany experts continue to impute the recent developments to oil prices.
The peculiar part is that oil has been on an upside streak since 2000, yet our consumer price index-oil price correlation has been tenuous. (see chart above: cpi begun its ascent in October when Oil had been trading above $85!)
What we have been saying is that the surge in global commodity prices, which appears to be reflected in food prices, is likely to be more strongly associated with the recent uptick in our price index data than oil alone.
Well guess what, the same article says that the BSP seem to confirm our view; again from the Philippine Daily Inquirer,
"Tetangco said elevated prices of main food items such as rice, meat, corn and flour, which comprise around 13.5 percent of the consumer price basket, likely pushed up inflation last month."
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