Poll: Inflation likely rose further in May

HIGHER food prices along with elevated transport and fuel costs could have driven inflation higher in May, analysts said. The median forecast in a Manila Times poll was 7.8 percent, higher than the 7.2 percent recorded in April and within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) estimate of 7.1 percent to 7.9 percent for the month. If realized, inflation will have risen for a fifth straight month but moderate from a two-month surge — blamed on the oil shock caused by the war in the Mid