The monthly average peso-dollar exchange rate slightly went down to 40.6723 in February, from 40.7295 in January. The peso remained strong compared to the US dollar in February.
The year-on-year headline inflation rate rose to 3.4 percent in February from 3.0 percent in January. Based on the National Statistics Office Press Release, the increases are mainly because of the faster annual gain in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages index and the double-digit annual increment in alcoholic beverages and tobacco index. This also came from increases in the annual indices of furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; communication; and recreation and culture commodities. Core Inflation rate also went up to 3.8 from 3.6 percent.
