News Break/Sept. 5: Inflation hurtled past forecasts to 6.4 percent in August, as food prices rose during the monsoon season and as more Filipinos wished they could work more hours, official data released Wednesday showed.
The 6.4-percent print smashed the 5.9 percent predicted by the Department of Finance and polls from Bloomberg and Reuters. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla said it was his “expectation” that it would not breach 6 percent.
Inflation stayed at its fastest in nearly 10 years and moved closer to 6.6 percent last recorded in March 2009. The release of inflation data was delayed by an hour, with the Philippine Statistics Authority citing technical issues.
On the foreign exchange front, the peso breached its 12-year low, hitting 53.56 to the dollar. This exceeded the P53.55 threshold that was set in July 2006.
