Palace: Inflation to remain ‘very low’

MANILA, Philippines — Inflation is likely to remain “very low” this year, Malacañang said on Tuesday, vowing to enforce tougher measures against smugglers and hoarders of agricultural commodities.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin made the remarks when asked to comment on the high prices of tomatoes in the market.

“There is sufficient supply, but the prices don’t go down. They go up. So, we have been very active in prosecuting hoarders. But that is only one part of the explanation,” Bersamin said at a press briefing at Malacañang.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is confident that the inflation rate “will be very, very low,” he said.

“I just don’t know how the respective departments who are responsible for…will address this issue of bringing down the rate of inflation,” he said.

The retail price of tomato has increased to P360 per kilo, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Based on DA monitoring in Metro Manila markets, a medium-sized tomato costs at least P20.

The country’s inflation quickened in December to 2.9 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported.

The December inflation rate was a slight increase from the 2.5 percent in November. This was mainly driven by the higher inflation rate of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan noted the full-year rate of 3.2 percent was within the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s annual inflation target of two to four percent through 2028.