Palace sees improved business, consumer confidence in coming months despite Q4 drop

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang assured the public on Friday that the government was addressing the issues on inflation, weakening peso and higher interest rates among others, which contributed to the decline in business confidence in the country.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has reported on Thursday that business and consumer confidence in the country continued to weaken in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The BSP said among the factors that contributed to the less optimistic outlook were soaring inflation, weakening peso, higher interest rates, lower volume of sales and orders and lack of raw materials supply.

“The public should understand that the government has already addressed and continues to act on these issues,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

He cited that the “prices of commodities are already stabilizing, with inflation going down from 6.7 percent  in October to 6 percent in November.”

he also noted that fuel prices have “dropped for the eighth consecutive week, with local oil firms implementing a P2.00 rollback in their products. We also expect a turnaround in the peso this month.”

“The Palace remains confident that business and consumer confidence will still improve in the coming months. The President has kept an ear on the ground and matched this with his strong political will and decisive action in responding to our people’s concerns,” he said. /muf