THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reported that the country’s inflation significantly slowed down to 4.1 percent in November.
This will be the lowest since March 2022 or for the past 20 months, the agency said.
The cooling of the country’s inflation, or the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time, according to the NEDA, can be attributed to the timely implementation of strategies to stabilize food supply amid the anticipated domestic and external headwinds in the coming months.
The country’s inflation in November, says the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) further eased from 4.9 percent in October down to 4.1 percent last month, following the further deceleration of food and non-food prices during the month, which brings the year-to-date inflation rate to 6.2 percent.
The downtrend in the overall inflation last month was primarily brought about by the decrease in food inflation to 5.8 percent from 7.1 percent in October. This was due to the deflation in vegetables (-2.0 percent from 11.9 percent) and lower inflation of fish (4.9 percent from 5.6 percent), meat (0.5 percent from 0.8 percent), sugar (1.5 percent from 4.9 percent), bread and other cereals (6.9 percent from 7.4 percent), and fruits (13.1 percent from 13.5 percent).
In addition, non-food inflation eased further to 2.9 percent from 3.4 percent in October, resulting from deflation in transportation (-0.8 percent from 1.0 percent) and slower inflation in restaurant and accommodation services (5.6 percent from 6.3 percent).
“With the right interventions in place, including the proper and timely deployment of trade policy, we are confident that we can effectively manage inflation and prevent unnecessary upticks in prices of goods and commodities to safeguard the purchasing power of Filipino families, especially those from the most vulnerable sectors,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.
He added that the government needs to continue monitoring the inflation situation in the face of continued price pressures coming from geopolitical tensions and extreme weather situations, further fueling uncertainty.
Balisacan said that to ensure sufficient supply and stable prices of rice, the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO) sub-committee on food inflation has proposed to maintain the lower tariff rates on rice, corn and swine meat. “At the same time, differentiated support must be provided to agricultural producers, depending how and when they will be affected by El Niño. Measures to reduce transport and delivery costs are being undertaken as well,” he emphasized.
Based on the latest monitoring by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s (PAGASA), a strong El Niño is already present in the country and is projected to intensify in the coming months until the second quarter of 2024. This could bring below-normal rainfall across the country and disrupt food production and energy generation.
Balisacan added that the Toll Regulatory Board and the Department of Agriculture, along with other agencies and tollway concessionaires, are finalizing the details on exempting agriculture delivery trucks from toll increases to mitigate energy- and fuel-related inflationary pressures.
Meanwhile, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board has provided fuel subsidies to 166,598 public utility vehicles as of November 17.
To protect the most vulnerable sectors from high food prices, the Department of Social Welfare and Development launched the Walang Gutom 2027: Food Stamp Program, which provides monetary assistance to low-income households and allow them to purchase selected food commodities from eligible merchants.
“Effective implementation of these programs is crucial to minimize the impact of high prices on low-income households. The government is also implementing strategies and programs to improve local food production and supply and boost the productivity of our farmers by investing in irrigation, flood control, supply chain logistics, and climate change adaptation,” the NEDA chief said.