Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said he expects inflation rate to remain manageable although it is expected to peak in the third quarter.
“In terms of our preliminary estimates on the monthly movements of inflation, we expect inflation to peak by the third quarter and thereafter, we should be seeing on a monthly basis the inflation rate 4 percent or lower than 4 percent,” Guinigundo said over the weekend.
“And that is the reason why you have an inflation forecast of 3 percent for 2019 coming down from 3.1 percent and in the last quarter of 2018, we should be seeing 4 percent of lower monthly inflation,” he said.
The policy-making Monetary Board of Bangko Sentral decided to maintain the benchmark interest rates in its last meeting.
The Monetary Board said its decision was based on assessment that while recent inflation outturns showed an elevated path in 2018, the latest baseline forecasts continued to show inflation remaining within the inflation target of 2 percent to 4 percent in 2018 and moderating further in 2019.