The Philippines maintained its 2024 inflation rate target with a year-to-date average of 3.2 percent following last December’s 2.9 percent inflation rate, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said on Tuesday.

In a statement, NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan noted last year’s average inflation rate is a significant improvement from the 6.0 percent figure in 2023.

Balisacan stressed the government’s efforts to temper inflation “have been largely successful.”

“Despite the risks we encountered throughout the year, our combined efforts to temper inflation have largely been successful. We will build upon this momentum as we commit to keep the inflation rate within our target range in 2025,” he said.

Early in December last year, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) announced its decision to retain the annual inflation target of 2.0 to 4.0 percent through 2028.

According to Balisacan, the government remains optimistic about curbing inflation in the new year.

“We are intensifying efforts to improve productivity, encourage innovation, and build resilience toward ensuring food security and protecting consumers’ purchasing power. This will enable us to foster stronger and more inclusive economic growth, allowing Filipinos to move closer to realizing a matatag, maginhawa, at panatag na buhay,” he said.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the December 2024 inflation rate was a slight increase from the 2.5 percent in November 2024. This was mainly driven by the higher inflation rate of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels. | PND