Thursday November 5, 11:21 AM
Philippine inflation rises due to storms
Philippine inflation rose to 1.6 percent in October as killer storms pushed up food prices, the government said Thursday.
Tropical storms Ketsana and Parma caused massive flooding and landslides, damaging crops and making it harder to harvest and transport agricultural goods, the National Statistics Office said.
The northern part of the country was pounded from September 26, leaving over a thousand dead and causing massive landslides and the worst flooding in the region in four decades.
"The limited supply of vegetables in the markets as roads from vegetable supplying provinces were not passable due to landslides and road cuts caused their prices to accelerate during the month," the government agency said.
Average inflation in the Philippines in the 10 months to October was 3.2 percent, well within the government's full year forecast of 2.5-4.5 percent.
Excluding volatile food and energy items, core inflation slowed to 2.7 percent in October from 2.8 percent in September.
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