MANILA — The Philippines‘ annual inflation was 3.9% in December, down from than the previous month’s 4.1%, thanks to lower food and utility prices, the statistics agency said on Friday.
Economists in a Reuters poll had forecast annual inflation of 4.0% in December, within the central bank’s 3.6 to 4.4% projection for the month.
The December data brought full-year inflation to 6.0%, well above the central bank’s 2%-4% target for 2023.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was at 4.4% in December versus 4.7% in the previous month.
— Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Mikhail Flores; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor
