BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno (INQUIRER file photo / EARVIN PERIAS)
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s inflation rate is projected to decrease in the second half of the year, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said Monday.
During the Laging Handa briefing, Diokno said the country’s inflation rate is expected to remain high in the first two quarters of the year, but will eventually go down during the second half of the year.
Diokno said they are expecting the inflation rate to average at around 4.2 percent by year-end.
“Ang tingin namin ay patuloy na bababa, siguro medyo mataas pa rin ang inflation for the first two quarters this year pero bababa din siya sa second half of the year,” Diokno said.
(We think that it will continue to go dow. Maybe the inflation rate will still be high in the first two quarters the year, but this will go down in the second half of the year.)
“Sa aming latest baseline forecast, ang inflation ay natin ay maaaring manatili sa high-end ng aming target range para sa taong ito pero babalik yan sa midpoint sa aming target sa around 2022,” he added.
(In our latest baseline forecast, inflation will remain in the high-end of our target range for this year but it will return to the midpoint target around 2022.)
Inflation slightly eased to 4.5 percent in March and cut short five-straight months of rising rates even with the high cost of pork products.
The rate of increase in the prices of basic commodities in March brought the first-quarter average to 4.5 percent, above the 2 to 4 percent target band considered as manageable.