Inflation inches up in December, but 2012 average settles at low end of full-year target

MANILA – Consumer prices inched up in December, but the full-year average settled at the low end of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) target range.
In a report, the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Friday said inflation climbed to 2.9 percent last month from November’s year-on-year uptick of 2.8 percent.
Despite the slight increase, the full-year figure of 3.2 percent was at the low end of the 3-5 percent BSP target range, and well below the 4.6 percent in 2011.
Excluding the impact of volatile items like food and energy, core inflation eased to 3.3 percent last month from 3.4 percent in November. This brought the full-year figure at 3.7 percent, lower than the 2011 average of 4.3 percent.