Year-on-year headline inflation in the Philippines accelerated to 4pc in March from 3pc in February, mainly due to higher inflation rates for food, utilities, and transport, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday. At an online briefing, PSA head Dennis Mapa said the increase in fuel prices in the international market affected the three sectors, causing the March inflation to rise. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said higher inflation rates for food and non-food commodity groups resulted in faster inflation for March, adding food inflation increased to 2.8pc, up from 1.1pc in February. Meanwhile, non-food inflation increased to 5.0pc in March from 4.1pc in February, primarily due to elevated oil prices. Transport inflation also increased to 10.3pc from 8.8pc.