UPDATE 2-Philippine inflation picks up, but c.bank keeps door open to easing

* Nov CPI rises 3.3% yr/yr vs +2.5% in Oct
* Nov Core inflation at +3.2% vs +3.0% in Oct
* Cbank ready to act as "uncertainty remains high"

(Adds central bank comment, detail)
By Neil Jerome Morales and Enrico Dela Cruz
MANILA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Philippine inflation accelerated
more quickly than expected in November, but the central bank
played down the jump as "transitory" and kept the door open for
further policy action to support the pandemic-hit economy.
The Consumer Price Index rose 3.3% PHCPI=ECI last month
from a year earlier, the fastest rise in 20 months, driven by
spikes in food prices after a series of destructive typhoons.
The figure was well above the 2.6% median estimate in a
Reuters poll and outside the central bank's projected range of
2.4% to 3.2% for the month.
Core inflation PHCPXY=ECI , which excludes volatile food
and fuel prices, quickened to 3.2% from 3.0% in October, the
statistics agency said on Friday.
Inflation averaged 2.6% in the January-November period, well
within the 2% to 4% target range for the year.
With the pandemic holding back consumer spending and
business activity, the government has projected an economic
contraction of 8.5%-9.5% for this year, worse than its previous
forecast of a 5.5% slump. The Philippine central bank, which last month delivered a
surprise fifth interest rate cut this year to provide further
support to the sputtering economy, has not shut the door on
further easing. "Uncertainty remains high following the resurgence of the
virus in the U.S., Europe and parts of Asia," Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno told reporters after the
release of the inflation data.
He reiterated the central bank's readiness to "deploy its
full arsenal of instruments" to support the economy and sounded
a note of caution over the logistical challenges of distributing
a coronavirus vaccine when it became available.
The central bank holds its last policy meeting this year on
Dec. 17. ANZ economists said in a note that the surprise jump in
inflation "will not derail the accommodative course of monetary
policy".