UPDATE 1-Philippine CPI hits 26-mth high, cbank views spike as temporary

* Feb CPI up 4.7% y/y vs +4.2% in Jan; core picks up to 3.5%
* Cbank maintains upward trend in inflation is temporary
* Cbank sees inflation still within target over policy
horizon

(Adds detail, comments, background)
By Neil Jerome Morales and Enrico Dela Cruz
MANILA, March 5 (Reuters) - Philippine inflation picked up
pace in February to the fastest rate in 26 months, but the
central bank said the spike should be viewed as temporary,
signalling it would not be in a rush to reverse its
accommodative monetary policy stance.
The Consumer Price Index PHCPI=ECI rose 4.7% from a year
earlier, against January's 4.2% increase, marking the second
straight month that the headline figure was outside the official
target of 2%-4%.
It matched the median forecast in a Reuters' poll and was
within the central bank's 4.3%-5.1% forecast for the month.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel
prices, picked up to 3.5% versus January's 3.4%, the statistics
agency said on Friday.
The inflation number reflects the impact of weather-related
supply disruptions and African Swine Fever outbreaks on food
prices, as well as base effects and costlier oil, the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
"The overall balance of risks to future inflation continues
to lean toward the downside owing mainly to the continued
uncertainty caused by the pandemic on domestic and global
economic activity," BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno told reporters.
He maintained that inflation will eventually return to the
target range, but also said the BSP will be mindful of possible
further upward pressures.
The BSP, which holds its next policy meeting on March 25,
"will consider carefully recent price developments that could
influence the outlook for inflation along with evidence of
second-round effects", Diokno said, referring to current higher
prices driving inflation expectations up.
The BSP has kept its policy rate PHCBIR=ECI at a record
low of 2.0% for two consecutive meetings, following last year's
cuts totalling 200 basis points.
Most economists do not expect the BSP to change its policy
stance soon.
"(The BSP) will likely look beyond inflation that is being
caused by some supply-side pressures. They want to nudge the
reopening of the economy," Security Bank chief economist Robert
Dan Roces told ANC news channel.