Seven out of 10 Filipinos disapprove of the way the Marcos government handled inflation, which remains as the top national urgent concern that should be addressed by the administration, according to the fourth quarter Ulat ng Bayan survey of Pulse Asia.
The survey, conducted from December 3 to 7, involved 1,200 adults nationwide and had a margin of error of ±2.8 percent.
Pulse Asia data showed the Marcos government earned its highest disapproval rating of 73 percent on the issue of controlling inflation — up from 56 percent in September — during the fourth quarter survey.
The administration also garnered its only single-digit approval score, 9 percent, down from 16 percent, on the issue.
Eighteen percent, down from 28 percent, were undecided if they approve or disapprove of the way the government handled the issue.
Pulse Asia said the administration scored a -64 net approval rating — derived from the percent of approval minus percent of disapproval rating.
The issue remains the top urgent national concern that should be addressed by the government at 72 percent, down from 74 percent.
It remains as the highest national concern across geographical locations (69 percent to 75 percent) and different socio-economic sectors (61 percent to 81 percent).
On Friday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported headline inflation slowed down to 3.9 percent year-on-year in December from 4.1 percent in November and was within the Bangko Sentral’s forecast range of 3.6-4.4 percent for the month.
This brought full-year average inflation rate in 2023 to 6 percent, which was above the government’s inflation target range of between 2 and 4 percent.
On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, headline inflation was marginally higher at 0.1 percent in December from nil in the previous month. Core inflation, which excludes selected volatile food and energy items and denotes underlying demand-side price pressures, likewise moderated further to 4.4 percent year-on-year in December from 4.7 percent in November.
Both food and non-food inflation continued to decelerate in December. Non-food inflation slowed with the downward adjustment in electricity rates.
Meanwhile, year-on-year inflation rates of most key food items also fell during the month, with lower vegetable prices driving the bulk of the decline.
