By Erik de la Cruz
Xinhua Financial News Service
Last updated 08:33pm (Mla time) 01/30/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The consumer price index likely rose 3.9 to 4.6 percent in January than a year earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Manila’s central bank, said.
"Our inflation forecast for January is between 3.9 percent and 4.6 percent. The actual rate may be slightly lower than the December 2006 [rate], considering the strengthening of the peso and the generally lower retail prices of domestic petroleum products," Governor Amando Tetangco of the BSP said in a cellphone text message to reporters.
The CPI data for January will be released next Tuesday.
Tetangco said average inflation this year was projected to be within the government's target range of 4-5 percent "in the absence of further adverse shocks".
He said the latest forecasts also indicated that average inflation next year was likely to be within the targetted range of 3-5 percent.
However, he said that despite recent benign signs for the inflation outlook, the central bank remained watchful for potential risks.
"These include the impact on food prices of the El Nino dry spell, upward adjustments in domestic power costs and wages, and volatility in world oil prices," he said in a letter to President Gloria Arroyo.
He said the central bank would also continue to pay close attention to strong inflows, including remittances from Filipinos working abroad, which could mean additional pressure on prices.
http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view_article.php?article_id=46486
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