Food programs to further ease inf lation, DOF official assures
THE Department of Finance (DOF) is expecting the seasonal food price increases to ease with the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) productivity programs.
The DOF issued the economic bulletin after the December 2019 inflation figure showed consumer prices rising by 2.5 percent, half the previous year’s 5.2-percent inf lation.
“The Department of Agriculture has set up programs to modernize agriculture, build farm-to-market roads, develop value chains and enhance research and development,” DOF Undersecretary and Chief Economist Gil Beltran said in the economic bulletin.
For 2019, inflation averaged 2.5 percent, same as the year-on-year inf lation in December and well within the monetary authority’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.
The continued easing of rice prices also tempered the effects of the surge in fish and vegetable prices, moderating food inflation to 2.1 percent.
In the nonfood group, inflation also rose 2.4 percent boosted by seasonal upsurge in health (3.5 percent), restaurants (3.3 percent) and household furnishings (3.2 percent). This was dampened by lower electricity and fuel prices (0.8 percent).
Moreover, the general price level also accelerated by nearly 0.7 percent month-on-month in final month of 2019, mainly on the account of fish and vegetables.
On the back of holiday demand, fish prices also surged month-onmonth by 5 percent and vegetables by 3.7 percent.
Despite the country’s full-year inflation slowing to 2.5 percent in 2019 from 5.2 percent in 2018, the National Economic and Development Authority, as well as local economists earlier said inflation rate could quicken this year due to higher oil prices spurred by tensions between the United States and Iran.
Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development Director Alvin P. Ang earlier said inflation could average 4 percent this year. However, BPI Lead Economist Emilio S. Neri Jr. said there is even a possibility that inflation could be higher than 4 percent if geopolitical tensions persist.