Higher prices of food and other essential commodities pushed up the country’s year-on-year headline inflation rate to 0.7 percent in September from 0.1 percent in August.

Inflation a year ago was 11.8 percent, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

But the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is not worried by the price uptick in September. It said it would meet its year’s average target of 2.5-4.5 percent.

''The recent natural calamities might pose some pressure on food items in both the national capital region and the provinces,'' BSP Governor Amando Tetangco told reporters in a mobile text message..

''We do not expect such pressure to be significant, however, considering that the government has accumulated rice and corn stocks much more than the normal requirements,'' he said.

Nestor Espenilla, Deputy BSP Governor, said: ''Preliminary assessment of (typhoon) damage does not indicate lasting inflation impact.''

Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation continued to slow down to 2.8 percent in September from 2.9 percent in August.

NSO noted a negative annual inflation rate was still registered in the National Capital Region (NCR) at -0.3 percent in September from -1.1 percent in August due to the sustained negative annual price movements in fuel, light and water (FLW) and services index and the deceleration in the annual rates of clothing and housing and repairs (H&R) index.

Annual inflation rate in areas outside Metro Manila rose to 1.1 percent in September from 0.6 percent in August as the inflation rate of the FBT index moved upward.