Inflation rate increases for third straight month in April
Inflation for April climbed for the third month at 3.8 percent as rice prices remained high and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan emphasized "the need for vigilance".
In a press conference on Tuesday morning, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa announced the continued increase of headline inflation to 3.8 percent in April from 3.7 percent in March, 3.4 percent in February and 2.8 percent in January of this year.
Mapa said that 3.8 percent inflation brings the national average inflation from January to April to 3.4 percent. He also noted that the April 2023 inflation rate was higher at 6.6 percent.
Balisacan noted that while the 3.8 percent inflation rate increase remains within the government’s target range, the present "El Nino phenomenon and global disruptions exert upward pressure on food prices, and La Nina threatens to compound the strain on the country’s food supply."
"We are taking comprehensive measures to ensure food security amid geopolitical concerns and weather patterns worsened by climate change. The government’s major strategies aim to increase productivity, build the resilience of the agriculture sector, and improve the efficiency of food systems,” he said.
Balisacan stressed the need to "augment local production during shortages to ensure an adequate food supply at affordable prices for all Filipinos".
"Food insecurity extends beyond economic strain?it directly impacts the well-being of all Filipinos. Failing to augment local production during shortages perpetuates poverty and exacerbates vulnerability,” he said.
PSA data shows that a surge in food inflation was witnessed in the month of April, rising to 6.3 percent from the previous month’s 5.7 percent. The key contributors include vegetables which went up by 4.3 percent, fish to 0.4 percent, and ready-made products to 4.8 percent.
Meanwhile, it also noted that rice recorded a lower inflation rate of 23.9 percent in April, down from 24.4 percent in March.
However, despite this decline, rice remains the primary driver of inflation, accounting for 2.1 percentage points.
Mapa explained that the inflation rate of rice slowed down after the price in the world market decreased in the past two months.
"The world price that we track in our trade data. It decreased last February and March, it peaked last January, so the world price was going down in the past two months. We track the prices of rice from Vietnam and Thailand," he said.
Mapa said based on their latest rice price monitoring the regular rice slightly increased for the month of April while the prices of special and well milled rice have reduced.
"This April 2024 our regular milled is at the price of 51.25 pesos average price per kilo nationwide compared to March 2024 at 51.11 pesos so it has a slight month to month increase for regular milled," he said.
"For well milled it is at 56.42 pesos compared to last March 56.44 pesos, so there was a slight reduction. We also have a reduction for special rise. Last April the price was at 64.68 pesos average price per kilo versus last March at 64.75 pesos per kilo," he added. Robina Asido/DMS
