MANILA, Philippines – Inflation picked up in May to a two-and-a-half year high on higher food and utility prices, prompting the central bank to say that room for keeping interest rates steady has narrowed.
The government, however, remains confident that inflation will fall within its target for the year.
Consumer prices rose by 4.5% last month, higher than the 4.1% in April, and at the high end of the central bank's estimate of 3.9% to 4.7%, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed Thursday, June 5. This was also the fastest since November 2011, when inflation stood at 4.7%.