Headline inflation in May will be “definitely lower” than April’s 6.6 percent, and expected to ease further to below 4 percent by September or October, the central bank chief said on Monday.
This developed as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it is reviewing requests for price increases from some brands of canned sardines, coffee, salt, instant noodles and canned meat.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla said he expects inflation to go below 2 percent by January next year, and average under the mid-point of the target for the entire year.
Medalla’s remarks to reporters on the sidelines of a business forum on Monday come ahead of the June 6 release of the May inflation data.
Inflation eased for a third successive month in April.
Medalla on May 18 signaled a continued pause in the BSP’s monetary policy tightening after it kept its benchmark interest rate steady, following a series of rate hikes totaling 425 basis points to curb inflation.
Meanwhile, DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual said yesterday prices of basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPCs) listed in the Suggested Retail Price (SRP) Bulletin as of February 8 2023 remain valid and in force until a new bulletin is published by the agency.
“Following the request of some manufacturers for price increase citing various reasons, the DTI continues to study these requests for validation and comparison with international prices. We need to balance the interest of different sectors, we must ensure that Filipino families will have access to affordable BNPCs,” Pascual said.
DTI Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said the agency is carefully reviewing the documents provided by the manufacturers as it has in own study and reliable references on the global prices of raw materials that allows us to determine the reasonableness of the requests. (Reuters, Irma Isip)
