Higher consumer prices remain a challenge for the Philippines, despite the easing inflation in the past two months, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Wednesday.
“We’re still not out of the woods when it comes to inflation,” BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. told reporters in a news briefing.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that inflation eased to 4.1 percent in November from 4.9 percent in October and 6.1 percent in September.
The November inflation brought the average rate to 6.2 percent, exceeding the BSP’s 2 percent to 4 percent target this year.
The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) earlier said the average inflation rate for 2023 was expected to settle at 6 percent.
Remolona said the BSP was unlikely to cut interest rates in the next few months.
The policy-making Monetary Board earlier kept the overnight borrowing rate unchanged at 6.50 percent and the overnight deposit and lending facilities at 6.0 percent and 7.0 percent.
Remolona said, however, the BSP may consider cutting interest rates if the “numbers point to the right direction” and the inflation rate settles around 3 percent.
The government expects an inflation rate of 2 percent to 4 percent between 2024 and 2028.
Remolona said the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP), was expected to grow “relatively strong” in the fourth quarter or similar to the 5.9-percent expansion in the third quarter.
Data showed that in the first three quarters of 2023, the GDP grew 5.5 percent, slower than the government’s target range of 6 percent to 7 percent.
The government reduced the 2024 growth target to a range of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent from a previous band of 6.5 percent to 8 percent. It also maintained GDP growth target of 6.5 percent to 8 percent from 2025 to 2028.
