Philippine inflation expected low in 2012

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, anticipated on Thursday that December's inflation rate would remain low, adding speculations that the full year figure would be controlled within the three-to-five percent target. Under that scenario, the low inflation environment in 2012 will be the fourth year in a row that actual inflation proved well within target, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said. That scenario prevails no matter the damage sustained by crop growers in typhoon-hit provinces across the country, he added. "The within-target inflation reflects the assessment that the inflation environment remains manageable and that inflation expectations remain well-anchored," he told reporters. In policy terms, Tetangco's comments raise the likelihood for the domestic interest rate settings to remain where they had been set at the last rate-setting meeting of the monetary board on the first week of this month. According to the BSP data, inflation in the first nine months in the country averaged only 3.2 percent. Target inflation next year had been set to range from 3 percent up to 5 percent also.