Philippines May Need Larger Rate Hike as Inflation Hits 7.2%

The Philippine central bank will likely need to take more aggressive interest-rate hikes to tame the faster-than-expected inflation spurred by the Middle East war, according to analysts.

Consumer prices rose 7.2% in April from a year earlier, the fastest pace in three years, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. That far exceeded all of the estimates in a Bloomberg survey and the central bank’s forecast of 5.6%-6.4%. Prices had only gained 4.1% in March.