MANILA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine rate of increase in consumer prices may likely grow at a faster pace in October because of base effects, but will still remain within the government's target, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Friday.
Based on the Economic Bulletin submitted to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, inflation is seen to settle at 2.5 percent in October, up from 2.3 percent in the previous month and 0.4 percent a year ago.
Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran attributed the increase mainly to base effects.
"Just like last month, the apparent surge in inflation rate is the result of base effects. October last year registered inflation rate of 0.4 percent," Beltran said in the report.
The expected uptick would peg the 10-month inflation rate at 1.6 percent, still below the inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC)'s target range of 2.0 percent to 4.0 percent.
"The benign inflation will continue to support economic growth and steel the economy from external volatilities," Beltran said.
