Malacañang said yesterday that the increase in the inflation rate last November is not a cause for concern, saying the administration would maintain fiscal and monetary policies to boost further the economy.
“The increase in inflation rate in November 2019 to 1.3 percent from October 2019’s 0.8 percent should not be a cause for alarm,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said.
Citing the Department of Finance, Panelo said the country’s stable macroeconomic fundamentals plus streamlined food supply will enable the economy to attain rapid growth and sustain low inflation.
“Through appropriate fiscal and monetary policies, it will be able to ride safely through the ongoing trade war and avoid the shocks that slowed down many emerging economies,” the Palace official said.
“The administration will maintain fiscal and monetary policies implemented by our economic managers to boost and further improve country’s economy while keeping inflation low for our local consumers amidst emerging global threats,” Panelo added.
The country had high inflation rate last year and peaked at 6.7 percent in September 2018.
“The Palace stresses that for the first 11 months of this year, inflation rate averaged at 2.5 percent, which the Department of Trade and Industry says is ‘still a very tamed inflation rate, much lower than the full year range of two to four percent we are expecting’ and within such target range set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” Panelo said. (Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)