Consumer prices rose 6.1% from a year ago, quicker than the 5.3% in August, the statistics agency said on Thursday. The central bank saw last month’s inflation between 5.3% to 6.1%, while all 25 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected it lower.

Rice inflation surged to 17.9% year-on-year, more than doubling from 8.7% in August even after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr capped rice prices for nearly a month. Nine-month overall price gains averaged at 6.6%, way above the central bank’s target.

The latest inflation print could give the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reason to extend its most aggressive monetary tightening campaign in two decades after pausing for four straight meetings.

Governor Eli Remolona said in an interview last month that he’s open to further raising the policy rate from the current 16-year high of 6.25% on or before the November 16 meeting, should transport and power costs add to price pressures.

Marcos is also under pressure to tamp down inflation, amid lower popularity ratings and growing disapproval towards his government’s handling of price pressures. On Wednesday, he said his administration is “working very, very hard” to make food costs affordable.

Policymakers will also have to consider dimmer outlook for the Southeast Asian nation’s economy this year, after growth stumbled in the second quarter.

Marcos’s economic team is aiming for the economy to expand by at least 6% this year, but institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank see 2023 growth falling below target.

Even the BSP expects domestic expansion to slow to 4.9% this year and to 4.5% in 2024.