MANILA – Budget secretary Benjamin Diokno on Tuesday denied that he misled the public about the inflation rate as accused by former Bayan Muna party-list lawmaker Neri Colmenares.
Interviewed on ANC, Diokno pointed out that the country’s economic team had properly reported and explained the key determinants of higher inflation rate.
“We reported which are the major determinants of higher inflation and it’s really food prices… rice, fish, vegetables and meat,” Diokno said.
“Meat for example because there was an epidemic somewhere in Africa. Pork importation becomes more expensive… and then of course fish because of global warming… the global supply of fish is really going down… rice because that’s self-inflicted wound… our NFA (National Food Authority) is lousy,” he added.
Diokno also admitted that the “big determinant” of the inflation rate was really the price of crude oil.
Colmenares, in a separate statement, maintained that the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law had contributed to the acceleration of inflation rate last year.
The former lawmaker also said the slowdown of inflation in December 2018 should not be attributed to the policies of Duterte administration’s economic managers.
“Ang pinakamalaking nag-ambag dito ay ang pagbaba ng presyo ng langis sa world market dahil sa pagdami ng supply nito noong huling tatlong buwan ng 2018,” Colmenares said.
Inflation clocked in at 5.1 percent in December 2018 – a seven-month low. This is slower than the 6 percent rate posted in November but faster compared with 2.9 percent recorded in December 2017. (GMA News)
