The February 2024 inflation remains within the Marcos government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for the year, despite its acceleration from the January 2024 record, demonstrating successful macroeconomic management, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said on Tuesday.
The NEDA reported that February 2024 inflation accelerated to 3.4 percent in February 2024 from 2.8 percent in January 2024, driven mainly by faster food price increases, which was pushed further mainly by faster rice inflation.
It noted that despite the acceleration, core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy prices, actually slowed to 3.6 percent from 3.8 percent, indicating stability in underlying price movements.
“The higher inflation in February 2024 remains within the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for the year, demonstrating successful macroeconomic management,” it said.
Special Assistant to the President on Investments and Economic Affairs Frederick Go also said the inflation rate in February is within the government’s target range for the year.
“The economic team continues to pursue programs and measures to manage the primary contributors to inflation,” he said.
The NEDA, for its part, made an assurance last month that the government would continue monitoring food supply and prices in the country in anticipation of the El Niño phenomenon spreading across more areas, as inflation in January 2024 further eased to its lowest since October 2020.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO) would continue to closely monitor the prices of rice and other goods to provide the President and the Cabinet with timely and appropriate policy recommendations and ensure stable and affordable prices of commodities.
With the El Niño phenomenon expected to linger until May, the government has introduced stop-gap measures, as necessary, such as allowing further importations of key commodities until the supply stabilizes at prices affordable to consumers while ensuring remunerative prices for local producers. | PND
