MANILA – The Duterte administration’s economic managers miscalculated the inflation rate, and so did everybody else, Finance assistant secretary Tony Lambino said.
Lambino made his remarks during the Presser forum hosted by the state-run Philippine Information Agency two days after President Rodrigo Duterte blamed the nine-year inflation of 6.4 percent in August on United States President Donald Trump’s trade policy, even if records showed that the main drivers of inflation were rice, electricity, fuel, fish, and transport prices.
“Given the sources of inflation, everybody missed something. Even the private sector estimates were off. Even private analysts did not quite get it right,” Lambino said.
“Just look at the international price of oil, even the World Bank was not able to predict the price. The median is 5.9 [percent inflation rate] kaya lahat po talaga nagulat. Kasi kung lahat po ng tao nag–eexpect na tataas ang presyo, eh tuloy nag-hohoard ng mga goods, bumibili ng marami habang mura, which is rational. Kung lahat po gumawa nun, magkakaupward pressure ang prices beyond what is expected. Kaya mahalaga po dapat na nakabase po tayo sa government data,” Lambino noted.
But Finance official maintained that inflation would be high even if the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law has not been enacted. The law lowered personal income tax rates, but raised the excise taxes on fuel and sugar sweetened beverages.
“Even without TRAIN law, the inflation would still be high. It would be around 6.2 percent instead of 6.4 percent. Slightly lower, but still high,” Lambino said.
But without the train law there would be no P12 billion in additional take home pay for those who are paying personal income tax, there would be no P90 billion of additional government revenue as well as P27 billion in funding for social services, he said.
“It is convenient to blame the TRAIN. But we have to ask, ‘Where are we going to get these funds?’ That is why the government has outlined immediate measures to address the inflation,” Lambino noted.
Duterte’s economic managers outlined eights steps to temper inflation such as the importing more rice and fish and prioritizing the release of food items in ports, among others, to temper supply side factors affecting commodity prices. (GMA News)
