A Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas high-ranking official said Tuesday there could be further policy tightening as the country's inflation would likely peak in December from last month's eight percent rate.

In a media interview, BSP Governor Felipe Medalla said the central bank cannot rule out more interest rate hikes in 2023 as it seeks to tame the country's inflation.

"Our goal is to have inflation between two to four percent, preferably closer to 3 percent by the third quarter of next year," Medalla told reporters after earlier flagging rate increases at the central bank's first two meetings next year.

The BSP raised rates by a total of 300 basis points this year, with two increases of 75 basis points each in July and November to fight inflation and keep the difference in interest rates between the Philippines and the US.

The country's inflation rate reached eight percent in November, putting the year-to-date rate at 5.6 percent. This is well above the central bank's goal of 2 percent to 4 percent for the year.

Medalla added that it is likely that the central bank, which meets every six weeks, will choose to change interest rates less often next year.

Inflation to 'decelerate' in January

In a separate talk show earlier this week, Medalla said he expects inflation to start decelerating by January and normalizing back to the target range by July.

"I see (the country's) inflation taming, so inflation will be normal by the third, the fourth quarter of 2023 (and) hopefully will continue for the rest of 2024," he said. "So inflation will be normal by the third, the fourth quarter of 2023, this hopefully will continue for the rest of 2024."