The inflation rate accelerated to 5.4 percent in February as almost all commodity groups registered faster increases in prices, the National Statistics Office reported Wednesday.

Consumer prices had risen 4.9 percent year-on-year in January and 3.9 percent in December.

The February inflation exceeded the government?s full-year target of 3.0-5.0 percent.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile prices of selected food and energy items, was 4.0 percent in February, compared with 3.4 percent in January.

Augusto Santos, acting director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), said the faster rise in overall consumer prices in February was led by food products, which account for about a third of the consumer basket.

Rains in February led to disruptions in food supply, Santos said.

Myrna Asuncion, NEDA director for policy and planning, said the average price of rice increased in February due to supply-related problems. She added that the state-owned National Food Authority increased the price of rice the agency sold to consumers.

Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. of the central bank said the acceleration in inflation was not likely to be sustained for the entire year, saying the figure would taper off in the second half.

According to the latest data, food, beverage and tobacco registered the highest inflation rate in February at 6.8 percent, up from 5.9 percent the previous month. The inflation rate for clothing rose to 3.4 percent last month from 2.3 percent in January; housing and repairs, to 2.8 percent from 2.3 percent; services, to 5.9 percent from 5.4 percent; and miscellaneous items, to 2.1 percent from 1.6 percent.

Only fuel, light and water registered a slower inflation rate to 4.6 percent in February from 5.5 percent the previous month.

For food alone, the inflation rate rose to 7.0 percent from 6.2 percent.

Tetangco said the central bank had expected the spike in inflation in February. The central bank?s forecast for February inflation was 4.8-5.5 percent.

?As I had mentioned before, we are expecting the monthly inflation rate to trace a hump-shaped path, meaning a slowdown in the latter part of the year, he said. ?We will continue to monitor developments to ensure that these assessments remain valid.?

With the projected tapering off of inflation in the second half, the central bank expects inflation to be within the target range of 3.0-5.0 percent for the year. Edited by INQUIRER.net