Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 4) — Filipinos continued to lose purchasing power in October, with the Marcos administration failing to curb rising inflation.
In a briefing on Friday, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) chief Dennis Mapa said the ₱1 in 2018 was equivalent to 85 centavos in October of 2022, as inflation soared to a nearly 14-year high.
READ: Filipinos battle steep prices with October inflation highest since 2008
A slump in the peso means consumers can buy fewer goods and services with one unit of the currency.
“For October, ang purchasing power of peso ay nasa ₱0.85 na lang from our base year of 2018. Ito na ‘yung drop niya,” he said.
[Translation: For October, the purchasing power of the peso is only ₱0.85 from our base year of 2018. This is the drop.]
From January to October, the local unit was worth ₱0.87, Mapa said.
The PSA official previously said the drop in the peso’s purchasing power was expected since the country had been recording higher inflation.
Data from the PSA showed Friday that the inflation rate last month further accelerated to 7.7%, well above the 6.9% recorded in September.
Aside from the decline in purchasing power, the peso has also been losing ground against the US dollar. It finished Thursday’s trading weaker at ₱58.8.
