Inflation seen staying above 2.0-4.0% target

INFLATION is unlikely to return to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) 2.0- to 4.0-percent target this year, analysts warned, after the rate rose to 6.1 percent last month amid a sharp increase in prices of key food items and transport costs.

The result — higher than August's 5.3 percent but down from the 6.9 percent posted a year earlier — hit the upper end of the BSP 5.3- to 6.1-percent forecast for September. It also exceeded the 5.4-percent median in a Manila Times poll of economists.