The Palace said government policies and interventions are working as the inflation rate for November eased to 4.2 percent.

"Well, we join our economic managers in stating that we have policies and interventions that we have put in place and it appears to be working and we continue our monitoring of prices of goods especially this Christmas season," Acting Presidential Spokesman Karlo Nograles said during a virtual Palace briefing on Tuesday.

"This December and January, we will continue to monitor the prices of the goods to make sure that it will not become too difficult for our people. But the numbers look good and our interventions and policies are working," he added.

According to the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA), the inflation in November slowed to 4.2 percent from 4.6 percent in the previous month.

"The average inflation from January to November remained at 4.5 percent. Inflation in November 2020 was posted at 3.3 percent," said PSA.

It also noted that the "downtrend in the overall inflation was primarily brought about by the slowdown in the inflation for the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages index which slid at 3.9 percent during the month, from 5.3 percent in October."

"In addition, lower inflation was also recorded in the indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 7.5 percent, and furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house at 2.4 percent," PSA said. Robina Asido/DMS