THE country’s headline inflation rate rose to a 20-month high of 3.3 percent in November on account of higher prices of food and non-alcoholic drinks, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced on Friday.

The figure was faster than October’s 2.5 percent and a 1.3 percent from a year ago. It also breached the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 2.4- to 3.2-percent estimate.