Palace hails Duterte policies making inflation all-time low in 3 years

MANILA, Philippines — The almost three-year low inflation in August was a proof of the “sound and resilient” anti-inflation measures of the Duterte administration, Malacañang said Thursday.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued this statement as “the country’s headline inflation has further eased to 1.7% in August of this year.”

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Thursday that this is the lowest inflation in 35 months.

READ: PH August inflation nears 3-year low as rice tariffication caps food prices 

“Indeed, this is positive proof that our macroenomic policies and measures put in place by the President and our economic managers are sound and resilient in curbing soaring prices,” he said.

Malacañang thanked the members of the economic team “for a job well done as we assure our people that our success in taming inflation will not lull us into complacency.”

He cited that the deceleration of inflation in August 2019 was mainly due to the slower annual increase in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages; housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels; health; recreation and culture; restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services.

The transport sector, he added, also contributed to the downtrend of inflation for August.

“The Duterte administration will work double time in addressing the socieconomic concerns of our people towards laying down the foundation of a safe, secure and prosperous nation where all Filipinos enjoy comfortable lives,” he said. /jpv