The government will still keep a close watch on the prices of goods and commodities despite the continuous drop in the inflation rate over the last five months, Malacañang said on Friday.
The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the country’s inflation stood at 3.3 percent in March, slower than the 3.8 percent recorded in February.
The latest recorded figure was also the slowest pace in 15 months, topping January 2018’s 3.4 percent.
“The downtrend was primarily due to the slower annual increase in the index of the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 3.4 percent,” the PSA said.
READ: March inflation rate fell to 15-month low of 3.3%
The slowdowns in price increases in alcoholic beverages, tobacco, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels contributed to the inflation’s continued easing, the country’s statistics agency said.
The PSA also noted the deceleration in prices of furnishing, household equipment, and routine maintenance of the house, health; communication, and restaurant, and miscellaneous goods and services.
In a statement, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the Palace is pleased with the latest figures.
“The administration’s resolve to cushion the impact of inflation has resulted in the downward path of inflation for five straight months,” Panelo said.
“We are confident that this slide would continue further for the rest of the year as President Rodrigo Duterte’s signing of Republic Act No. 11203 [Rice Tariffication Law] last February is expected to further ease inflation,” he added.
According to the Palace official, the administration’s economic managers expect rice prices to go down and even cut inflation by 0.5 to 0.7 percentage point this year.
Amid the decrease, Panelo said the government will not stop to monitor the prices of goods.
“The government, however, would not be complacent and has been vigilant in keeping a close watch on the prices of goods and commodities with the onslaught of El Nino, which may hamper food production,” Panelo said.
“The Palace calls on everyone to participate in water preservation not only in agriculture but also in our daily consumption to increase our resiliency against this extreme weather phenomenon,” he said.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Friday said the El Niño phenomenon and the rise in world oil prices could push consumer prices up.
“The possibility of a stronger and prolonged El Niño episode together with the continued rise in global crude oil prices provide upside price pressures over the near term,” the BSP said in a statement.
“Meanwhile, the potential slowdown in domestic economic activity due to the budget impasse as well as continued uncertainty in the global economic environment could present downside risks to inflation,” it said.
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