ECONOMY DOF sees higher inflation in March

The Department of Finance (DOF) said Tuesday it expects higher inflation last month owing to a weaker peso that pushed up food, power and fuel prices.

Based on the latest DOF Economic Bulletin released Monday, the country’s inflation may have settled at 3.6 percent in March this year, faster than the 3.3 percent in the previous month and 1.1 percent in the same period last year.

The DOF’s inflation forecast is within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) estimate of around 3.0 percent to 3.8 percent for March.

DOF Undersecretary and Chief Economist Gil Beltran traced the acceleration of inflation to “base effects,” saying global petroleum prices have started normalizing from low levels set last year.

“The BSP has lowered its inflation forecast for the whole year 2017 (to 3.4 percent from 3.5 percent in February) due to lower actual inflation than earlier forecast,” Beltran said in his report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

The Philippine Statistics Authority is set to release the official March inflation report on April 5.

Last month, the general price increase for food and non-alcoholic drinks likely rose to 4.5 per- cent from 4.1 percent, while alcoholic drinks and tobacco jumped 6.5 percent from 6.0 percent.

Prices for housing, utilities and fuels are also expected to increase by 4.1 percent from 2.9 percent in the previous month.

Clothing and footwear inflation is seen to reach 2.9 percent, up from 2.8 percent in February, while health may have settled at 2.8 percent from 2.6 percent.

Meanwhile, prices for transport likely dropped to 1.9 percent from 2.8 percent, and restaurants & miscellaneous services to 1.8 percent from 2.1 percent.

On the other hand, inflation of furnishings, household equipment (2.3 percent), recreation and culture (1.8 percent), education (1.8 percent) and communication (0.2 percent) are expected to remain steady. /