RP inflation in Feb at 2.6%, slowest since Dec '02

(Update) The Philippines' annual inflation in February came in at 2.6 percent, due to unhurried price gains across all commodity groups, the National Statistics Office said Tuesday. This was the slowest pace of consumer price increases since December 2002, when inflation was recorded at 2.5 percent. The February inflation is slower than analyst expectations. The median average of a GMANews.TV poll of four economists showed that the country’s inflation was expected to come in at 3.2 percent in February. Month-on-month, prices decreased -0.1 percent, dragged by price drops in fruits, vegetables and meat. The NSO said lower adjustments in electricity rates and price rollbacks for liquefied petroleum gas, kerosene, gasoline and diesel also contributed to the inflation downtrend. Inflation in January 2007 was measured at 3.9 percent. The annual rise in prices of food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) was reported at 3.0 percent in February from 4.3 percent in January. Inflation for rice, a basic commodity in the country, slowed to 1.4 percent in February from 1.8 percent in January. The annual pace of price increases for commodities under the food, light and water subgroup was 1.5 percent in February from 4.6 percent in January.-GMANews.TV