By Joann Villanueva/PNA
MANILA — A Department of Finance (DOF) official forecasts November 2018 inflation to decelerate to 6.3 percent from hitting its multi-year high of 6.7 percent last September and October.
Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran attributed his forecast to the decline in the prices of several food items like rice and vegetables.
This, after the government implemented since last September several measures targeted to boost supply of rice and other food items following supply issues in the past months that resulted to the upticks in domestic inflation rate.
These measures include the release of rice stocks in all warehouses of the National Food Authority (NFA) nationwide and importation of more rice.
Beltran projects inflation to continue slowing down in the coming months, with the December 2018 level posting a flat month-on-month rise.
“It will not rise much, not rise from 6.3 percent. Month-on-month will surely be zero,” he told reporters in an interview last Friday.
In the first 10 months this year, inflation averaged at 5.1 percent, higher than the government’s 2 to 4 percent target band for 2018-20.
However, inflation last October alone is flat at 6.7 percent, with the month-on-month expansion at around three percent from over five percent in the past months.
Authorities expressed confidence that domestic rate of price increases will go back to within-target levels next year with the help of the government measures implemented since last September and the decline of global oil prices.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), in turn, forecasts the November 2018 inflation to stay within 5.8-6.6 percent.
