Inflation rate shoots up; group calls for economic team’s resignation
the percentage change in the purchasing power of a particular currency, in our case the Philippine peso. The formula in computing the
- modate several factors in various jurisdictions. However, the simplest one is based on the Consumer Price Index, or CPI.
subtracting the previous year’s CPI from the current CPI and then dividing it by the previous year’s CPI.
Ideal inflation rate
According to Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, the target is between two percent and four percent, or three percent. Thus, the 4.6 percent is way above the target. However, Diokno is optimistic that
during the second half of the year and will stabilize in 2019.
In the United States, the Federal Open Market Committee sets the
They posit that it is the most consistent over the long run to ensure price stability and maximum employ- reduce the public’s ability to make accurate longer-term economic and
associated with the probability of
weak economic conditions.
According to Trading Economics, consumer prices here rose by 4.6
rate since November 2011, as cost of transport surged and food prices continued to increase.
Actual inflation rates were all above the forecasted rates. For example, Trading Economics forecast
percent but the actual is 4.3 percent. Similarly, it predicted a rate of 4.1 percent for May but the actual is 4.5 percent. For June the actual rate is 4.6 percent while the forecast is 4.5 percent. The forecast for September is 4.7 percent. Does that mean that
will be around 5 percent?
Economic team blamed
Reacting to the continued increases in the prices of petroleum and basic commodities, a consumer and commuters group, the United Filipino Consumers and Commuters ( UFCC) Inc. demanded the resignation of this administration’s economic managers. Aside from Diokno, UFCC called for the immediate resignation of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General Ernesto Pernia, and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.
UFCC President Rodolfo Javellana, Jr. also demanded the scrapping of the excise tax imposed on petroleum products and sweetened sugar beverages. He decried the imposition of the TRAIN Law.
Based on the Department of Finance’s website, the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion
comprehensive tax reform program (CTRP) envisioned by the Duterte administration, which seeks to
the tax system to make it simpler, fairer, and more efficient. It also includes mitigating measures that are designed to redistribute some of the gains to the poor.
In his letter to President Duterte, dated May 24, 2018, Javellana said they were “grateful to the President for making our streets safer, creating jobs, curbing corruption and solving the drug problem.” Though they initially supported TRAIN, they are now forced to think otherwise.
“But in recent days, with the on the poor and ordinary citizens because of the taxes on fuels, we are forced to appeal to the President to review the effects of the new taxes. The objectives are urgent and pressing but the way it has been implemented has been burdensome to the poor. We realize that the latest spikes in fuel prices have been driven by factors external to our economy such as the renewed tensions in the Middle East but precisely because of these unanticipated factors, there is now need to re-examine TRAIN in light of these.
“Taxing the poor based on what or how much the government needs instead of how much the poor can afford to pay is unfair to the poor. This is the inevitable result of shifting the tax basis from income to consumption. On the other hand, we also believe that the funding needed for government infrastructure projects does not necessarily have to come from new taxes—efficient collection of the present
investments,” the letter said.
UFCC has the right to openly express its grievances by sending letters to concerned politicians, including the President. This is much better than trooping to the streets, waving placards, and chanting slogans.