BSP projects further slowdown in April inflation
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. (File photo/Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA -The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) projects that inflation eased for the third month in a row in April, falling within the range of 6.3 percent to 7.1 percent.
This firms up expectations of a pause in interest rate hikes when the Monetary Board (MB) holds their next policy meeting in May.
BSP Governor and MB Chair Felipe Medalla earlier this month said policymakers still needed to look at inflation data from April—to gather three months’ worth of data—in order to decide whether to pause.
In a statement, the BSP said lower prices of electricity, fish and vegetables and cooking gas or LPG are expected to have helped ease inflation from 7.6 percent in March.
On the other hand, higher prices of other fuels as well as rice and meat and also the depreciation of the Philippine peso are seen to have helped keep inflation high.
Economic managers said earlier this month that inflation remained a top concern for the government to address, despite the lower numbers seen in February and March.
Secretary Arsenio Balisacan of the National Economic and Development Authority said last Thursday that inflation remained a challenge this year due to persisting domestic issues affecting food and energy prices.
“We expect inflation to remain a challenge this year, owing mainly to domestic issues and constraints in local food production and importation policies, the spread of animal diseases, the twin threats of El Niño and typhoons, higher energy costs and second-round effects from these events,” Balisacan said.
The BSP said it “remains prepared to respond appropriately” to continuing risks on inflation as it makes monetary policy decisions based on data or actual developments.
Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said food security will remain a major global concern as El Niño is expected to return in June after a rare three consecutive years of its twin La Niña.
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