Marcos ‘very conscious’ of inflation rate: ‘That is still of great concern’

MANILA, Philippines – MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the ballooning inflation rate in the country “is still of great concern,” noting that his administration remains “very conscious” of the Filipinos’ cost of living.

Marcos said the expansion of the Philippine economy, which surpassed earlier estimates as it grew by 7.6 percent in the third quarter of this year, “makes sense,” as he cited the dip in the unemployment rate last August.

READ: Philippine president says economy grew 7.6% in Q3

“That means there’s more economic activity and this is reflected now in the (gross domestic product) growth. And even in agriculture, I am very happy… of the growth of the agricultural sector by 2.2 percent and so, the economy is moving,” he said in a video released by the Office of the Press Secretary on Friday.

Despite the improving gross domestic product and the declining unemployment rate in the Philippines, Marcos said his administration remained wary of the soaring inflation rate.

“Once again, we are always very conscious of the inflation rate because this reflects the cost of living of ordinary people, so that is still a great concern to us. But we have created the jobs, we have started the growth and that will pull us out of the debt situation that we are in,” he noted.

The Philippines’ inflation rate accelerated to a nearly 14-year high at 7.7 percent in October, and is seen to rise further.

READ: Philippines inflation near 14-year high; more rate hikes seen

Mr. Marcos reiterated that the country has been dealing with “shocks that are coming from abroad” but he believes that when it concerns the Philippine economy, “they have made the right policy decisions.”

“We have started to make the right initiatives and in certain cases, we have had to intervene but we have a mix of interventions and non intervention actions to alleviate the problems in the economy,” he added.

Mr. Marcos is currently in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and other related summits until Sunday, November 13.

READ: Bongbong Marcos off to Cambodia for Asean Summit

On Thursday, he joined top Cambodia-based business executives at a roundtable meeting, where he invited them to set their sights on forging investments in the Philippines.

READ: Bongbong Marcos to Cambodia business leaders: We’re steering PH economy in right direction

The President  also met with fellow Asean leaders in an audience with the King of Cambodia, and later joined a string of meetings with Asean legislators, youth representatives, and business leaders. – with reports from Alyssa Joy Quevedo,  trainee