PRICES of goods and services in the Philippines continued to spike in December 2020 as inflation hit a 22-month high of 3.5 percent, above analysts’ expectations of 3.2 percent but still within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ forecast range of 2.9 to 3.7 percent.
Philippine inflation has now quickened for three straight months since October 2020, settling at its highest level since February 2019’s 3.8 percent rate.
But the upward trend during the final months of last year was not enough to disrupt the inflation target for the whole year as annual inflation averaged at 2.6 percent which is within Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ two to four percent target range.
This means the monetary authorities still have room to keep rates at record lows, helping the local economy weather the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In fact, BSP Gov. Benjamin Diokno isn’t concerned about the accelerating inflation, saying the uptick in December is transitory, only brought about by the impact of typhoons on food supply and prices.
He doesn’t also expect inflation to be a concern until at least 2024.
“This pandemic is a marathon, not a sprint,” Diokno said, adding that inflation is the least of the BSP’s worries.
“Average inflation for 2020 is 2.6 percent is within our target, in fact we are keeping that target for the next 5 years, through 2024. We are confident,” Diokno emphasized.
National Statistician Undersecretary Dennis Mapa backed Diokno’s view.
“‘Yung meat, alam naman natin, this is partly because of demand and ‘yung ASF (African Swine Fever) na may problem tayo sa supply,” Mapa explained.
“I also noted in the report, ‘yung mais for example sa National Capital Region tumaas din siya partly because of the holidays. Hopefully, that would start to go down sa January,” he added. (with ABS-CBN News/PN)
