The country’s inflation rate or the increase of prices of basic goods has reached 4.2%.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the consumer price index rose at a faster annual pace of 4.2 percent last month.
This is the highest inflation rate since the 4.4 percent inflation seen in January 2019.
It’s also higher compared to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas forecast 3.4 percent to 4.1 percent.
Recently, pork prices have seen an increase due to the African swine fever while chicken prices also increased due to closure of poultry farms because of the pandemic. Prices rose even faster in the National Capital Region, which saw 4.3 percent inflation.
Pork prices rose 17.1 percent in January, PSA said.
Only the Philippines suffered an increase in prices among Southeast Asian Nations.
The BSP will be meeting on February 11 to make its first monetary policy decision this year.
