Inflation for the month of August jumped to 5.3 percent from 4.7 percent in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Tuesday.

This halted six months of decline in the inflation rate. The August figure was the upper end of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ forecast.

Higher prices of rice and vegetables, tubers in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages raised the inflation rate.

Rice inflation doubled from 4.2 percent in July to 8.7 percent in August while vegetable inflation went up from 21.8 percent to 31.9 percent.

Higher fuel prices, especially diesel and gasoline, also contributed to the increase.

The inflation rate in the National Capital Region reached 5.9 percent.

To curb an increase in rice prices which a government official described as “massive”, President Ferdinand Marcos imposed a price ceiling on well-milled and regular-milled rice which took effect Tuesday.

He said it would be temporary until imports and harvest come into the market. DMS