By Prince Golez
The Department of Finance (DOF) clarified on Wednesday that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. was “misunderstood” when he disputed the country’s inflation rate soaring to 6.1 percent in June.
Marcos was referring to the full-year inflation figure, of which the year-to-date average is currently at 4.4 percent, DOF Secretary Benjamin Diokno said in a Palace briefing.
Diokno also said both June 2022 and year-to-date inflation numbers are within the forecast range of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Development Budget Coordination Committee, with the BSP forecasting 5.7 to 6.5 percent for June.
The full-year forecast, on one hand, is at 3.7 to 4.7 percent based on the DBCC’s macroeconomic assumptions as of May 24, 2022, he added.
Meanwhile, the DOF chief said the President was right to point out that the world as a whole is experiencing a problem with the present high inflation rate for June.
“Among our peers, Indonesia’s overall inflation climbed to 4.4 percent in June from 3.6 percent in May. Meanwhile, Thailand’s inflation rate increased to 7.7 percent in June from 7.1 percent in May. Inflation in the Euro zone stood at 8.6 percent in June, the highest in 11 years. Meanwhile, the United States’ inflation rate in May reached a 40-year high of 8.6 percent,” said Diokno.
What caused the increase in the June 2022 inflation rate, he added, were faster price adjustments in operation of personal transport equipment; electricity, gas, and other fuels; and meat and other components of slaughtered land animals.
But, the secretary assured the public that the government is working hard to keep prices stable.
“Rest assured, the recent acceleration of inflation will be arrested by the government through addressing constraints in the food, energy, and transportation and logistics sectors,” said Diokno.
Among the measures being implemented by the government to mitigate the effects of inflationary pressures on the transportation industry is the distribution of P6,500 in fuel subsidies to public utility vehicle operators and drivers.
