BSP: June inflation to range from 3.8%-4.7%

Inflation will likely range from 3.8 percent to 4.7 percent this month because of higher school fees, more expensive food items, and higher prices of petroleum products, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Monday. The range would still fall within the 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent target monetary authorities set for the year, BSP Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a text message to reporters. "Forces that are likely to have dominated price movements in June are hikes in tuition fees and increases in certain food items and domestic pump prices. This forecast range for June continues to augur well for a within-target, full-year inflation," Tetangco said. Data from the National Statistics Office showed that average inflation eased to 4.3 percent in the first five months of the year from 5.7 percent a year earlier, while the headline inflation eased to 4.3 percent in May from 4.4 percent in April helped by lower oil, power, and water rates. Still, monetary authorities would assess if developments in the European debt crisis and the political turmoil between the two Koreas would spur price adjustments in the Philippine markets, Tetangco said. "Nevertheless, we remain mindful of developments in Europe and their impact on capital flows. We will monitor how these would affect volatilities in commodity and other economic prices, and ultimately on the inflation outlook," the BSP chief stressed. —VS, GMANews.TV