By Brian Campued
The administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. continues to pursue long-term reforms not just to stabilize commodity prices but also to sustain economic growth as the headline inflation remained unchanged at 1.7% in October.
In a media release Wednesday, Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev) Sec. Arsenio Balisacan underscored the government’s proactive measures to manage supply conditions and protect the purchasing power of Filipinos from potential price pressures.
“The steady headline inflation rate shows that our coordinated interventions are helping to maintain adequate supplies and keeping essential goods affordable,” Balisacan said.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the latest data brought the January to October average inflation rate to 1.7%, which is still below the 2% lower end of the government’s 2% to 4% target.
The latest inflation rate was also within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ forecast range of 1.4% to 2.2% for the month.
According to PSA Usec. and National Statistician Claire Denis Mapa, the slower increases in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages as well as transportation made up for the increases in other commodity groups such as housing and utilities, clothing, and personal care.
Food inflation at the national level recorded 0.3% inflation in October, down from 0.8% in September. This was led by slower year-on-year increases for vegetables at 16.6% from 19.4% and for meat at 5.2% from 6.0%.
Core inflation, which excludes food and fuel prices that are prone to changes, slowed to 2.5% this month from 2.6% in the previous month.
However, inflation was faster at 2.9% in October in the National Capital Region (NCR), compared to 2.7% in the previous month—mainly due to faster annual hike in the housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels index at 5.6% during the month from 4.7% in September.
In contrast, inflation in areas outside the NCR slowed to 1.3% in October from 1.5% in the previous month, mainly due to the slower increases in food prices in these areas.
Meanwhile, the inflation for the bottom 30% income households recorded a faster annual decrease of 0.4% in October compared to 0.2% in September.
Balisacan assured that the Marcos Jr. administration remains “vigilant in managing risks from weather disturbances, global market volatility, and other domestic factors that may affect prices in the coming months.”
-jpv
