President Marcos Jr. formally created the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO) that would oversee efforts to address inflation and enhance initiatives to improve the country’s economy and the quality of life of Filipinos.
The President, on May 26 signed Executive Order (EO) No. 28, that reorganized and renamed the economic development cluster (EDC) into the Economic Development Group (EDG) and formed the IAC-EMO as an advisory body to the EDG on measures that would keep inflation, particularly of food and energy, within the government’s targets.
The EDG is co-chaired by the Secretary of Finance and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA with the latter also acting as the secretariat.
The members include the secretaries of the departments of Agriculture (DA), Budget and Management (DBM) Energy (DOE), Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Interior and Local Government (DILG), Labor and employment (DOLE), Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Science and Technology (DOST), Trade and Industry (DTI), Transportation (DOTr), and Tourism (DOT).
The EO said “there is a need to reorganize the EDC to ensure that the integration of programs, activities, and priorities toward sustained economic growth remains efficient and effective,” as well as to oversee the harmonizing, coordinating, complementing, and synergizing of efforts to ensure the country’s rapid, inclusive and sustained growth.
EDG shall also promote an environment conducive to the growth and competitiveness of private enterprise and the creation of jobs that will empower the people and provide them the opportunity to rise above poverty.
It shall also help improve farms and rural enterprises, and trade policies vital to achieving food security; mitigate and ensure food and energy security; undertake research and development that are supportive of the requirements of the micro, small and medium scale enterprises; improve national productivity and competitiveness of domestic products and services; and ensure a wider distribution of economic opportunities.
The IAC-IMO, meanwhile, is co-chaired by the secretaries of DOF and NEDA, with the secretary of the DBM as vice-chairman and the secretaries of DA, DOE, DOST, DILG and DTI as members.
The DOF acts as the secretariat of IAC-IMO.
“In view of the increasing prices of key commodities, particularly food and energy resources, the creation of an advisory body to the EDC, tasked to directly address inflation, will strengthen the EDC, and reinforce existing government initiatives aimed to improve the economy and the quality of life of the Filipino people,” the EO read.
Among the functions of the advisory body are to closely monitor the main drivers of inflation, particularly food and energy, and their proximate sources and causes; and assess the supply-demand situation for essential food commodities during the cropping period, allowing periodic updating as new information becomes available.
IAC-IMO shall also assess the possible impact of natural and man-made shocks on the supply of key food commodities; and regularly monitor data necessary to assess food prices and the supply and demand situation; and facilitate regular and efficient data sharing among concerned agencies to effect timely supply and demand situation analysis;
It shall also monitor domestic developments and issues that may affect prices: and provide timely recommendations to the EDG and relevant agencies on measures to curb price spikes and promote food security based on ex-ante supply and demand analysis.
IAC-IMO shall also submit a quarterly report to the EDG about the country’s food and energy supply and demand situation; recommend short, medium, and long-term measures to manage inflation; and formulate and maintain a dashboard containing relevant information on prices, as well as the supply and demand for food and energy commodities.
The economic cluster in March recommended the creation of the IAC-EMO to monitor, study and come up with a scientific way of forecasting supply and production of food, among others, to prevent supply-side problems in the future.
