NextGen Day

On Tuesday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. expressed optimism for the nation’s economy despite the fact that inflation dropped from 8.7 percent in January to 8.6 percent in February.

The Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA) ascribed the decline in transportation-related prices, such as those for motorbikes, diesel, and gasoline, to the drop from 11.1 percent in January 2023 to 9 percent today.

“We continue to be full of hope for our economy, especially since our inflation rate slightly decreased to 8.6 percent despite the anticipated increase in the coming months,” Marcos wrote on his official Facebook and Twitter pages.

He gave the assurance that the government would keep putting policies in place to restrain the cost of essential goods and services.

The most vulnerable Filipinos would continue to get subsidies, according to Marcos’ administration.

He stated, “We continue to take initiatives to cut the costs of commodities and provide support to the Filipino people. Tulay-tuloy lang ang ating mga hakbang para pababain pa ang presyo ng bilihin at alalayan ang mamamayang Pilipino.

The government will shortly provide a PHP1,000 financial assistance under the extended Targeted Cash Transfer (TCT) program to help around 9.3 million households deal with excessive inflation, according to an earlier statement from Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

The most impacted households will receive cash transfers from the TCT program in the amount of PHP 500 over a two-month period.

The PHP1,000 two-month monetary assistance, according to Diokno, will come from the PHP26.6 billion budgeted for subsidies to vulnerable sectors.

He stated that in addition to the PHP1,000 two-month cash assistance, the government will also offer subsidies through the Fuel Discount for Farmers and Fisher-folk Program, the Fuel Discount Voucher Program for Fertilizer, and the Fuel Subsidy to the Transport Sector Affected by the Rising Fuel Prices programs.

Diokno also disclosed that Marcos established an inter-agency group to monitor the government’s response to price increases while focusing on the nation’s inflation and market prospects.

Benjamin Diokno, the secretary of finance, and Arsenio Balisacan, the secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority, will jointly head the cabinet-level Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook.

The resolution of supply-related concerns and the provision of a reasonably priced and dependable energy source is further short-term initiatives intended to reduce inflation.

PSA Undersecretary Dennis Mapa stated during a virtual press conference on Tuesday that despite a decline in inflation, prices for goods and services remain high.

He claimed that only transportation saw decreased inflation in the prior month among the 13 commodity sectors.

Even if the rate of inflation for transportation has decreased, the industry is still among the top three sources of price increases for goods and services in February.

With a February inflation rate of 10.8% and a share of 47.5 percent of the overall inflation last month, the group is only second to food and non-alcoholic drinks.

With an increase of 8.6 percent in February, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels contributed 21.4 percent to overall national inflation.

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