Rice, weak peso also raised inflation in April

The Department of Finance said the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law that took effect in January this year was not the only reason for the faster inflation of 4.5 percent in April.

Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua said in a statement Friday a spike in rice prices because of alleged lack of supply, a weak peso, rising oil prices abroad, better tax compliance of local cigarettes and the growing consumer demand accounted for the bulk of the 4.5-percent inflation in April.