MANILA, Philippines—High prices of food, especially pork and vegetables, pushed headline inflation upward to a two-year high of 4.2 percent year-on-year last January, making it tougher to convince consumers to spend more amid a prolonged recession.
Not only was the rate of increase in prices of basic commodities the highest since January 2019’s 4.4 percent, but it was also already above the government’s target range of 2 to 4 percent—considered manageable inflation—for 2021.
Prices last January further rose by a faster 0.9 percent from levels in December, when month-on-month inflation inched up 0.8 percent amid the Christmas holidays.
The impa…
Keep on reading: 2-year inflation high of 4.2 percent in January driven mainly by pork, veggie prices