Philippines’ finmin: Govt to step up efforts to curb inflation

MANILA— Philippine Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Tuesday the government would intensify efforts to bring inflation within its assumption of 2.5% to 4.5 % for 2023, even as he expects the headline figure to decelerate.

Inflation in January blew past expectations to touch a fresh 14-year high on surging food prices, raising the chance of the central bank delivering a bigger interest rate hike to tame prices when it meets this month.

READ: Philippine January annual inflation accelerates to 8.7%

—Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Clarence Fernandez