Metro Manila, Philippines – The rate of increase in the prices of goods and services may have eased further this month, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
In a press briefing at Malacañan Palace, Recto said inflation may go down to 2.5% from 3.3% in August – the lowest year-to-date.
The forecast is within the government target of 2% to 4%. The inflation rate for September will be released on Oct. 4.
“The good news is that inflation is on a downward trend,” Recto said.
The finance chief added that the forecast is even lower than the global rate at 5.9%.
He, however, admitted that the number may reverse during the holiday season with the usual higher consumer spending.
“Tuwing fourth quarter tumaas nang kaunti pero (Inflation slightly goes up every 4th quarter but) like I said, we expect it to be within the target range of the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) of anywhere between 2 to 4 percent,” he said.
Recto said overall inflation may stand at 3.4% this year – nearly half of that in 2023.
“The beauty about reducing inflation is that your GDP growth goes up and more jobs can be created, your borrowing cost goes down,” he said.
Economic expansion is measured in GDP or gross domestic product – the sum of goods and services produced in the country in a given year.
NewsWatch Plus Correspondent Lance Mejico contributed to this report
