Philippine inflation to ease further in October

 The Philippine inflation is expected to further decelerate in October due to lower prices of petroleum and food items, the central bank said on Tuesday.
The Philippine central bank or BSP said the inflation this month could average between 3.7 to 4.6 percent.
"From the peak of 4.9 percent in July and August and 4.4 percent in September, our latest assessment of inflation pressures indicates sustained easing," said Tetangco.
He said this is due to a significant decline in oil prices as Asian benchmark Dubai crude slid to an average of 87.86 U.S. dollars per barrel on Oct. 1-24 from an average of 96.59 U.S. dollars per barrel in September.
Tetangco said the prices of basic food items, such as rice, meat and vegetables, also declined this month.
Last week, local monetary authorities kept policy rates steady as the inflation is expected to settle within the targets for this year until 2016.
The BSP had earlier hiked overnight borrowing and overnight lending rates by a total of 50 basis points to ensure the inflation will settle within the government's goals. The Philippine government has set an inflation target of 3 to 5 percent for this year and 2 to 4 percent in 2015 and 2016.