President Marcos believes the overall inflation forecast for the Philippines is still better than other countries, allaying concerns over soaring inflation rates.

 “We may have to defend the peso in the coming months, but the overall forecast is that we are still doing better than other countries in terms of inflation, though economic developments are still anticipated,” Marcos said in a Twitter post on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in its Asian Development Outlook 2022 update, expects inflation in the country at 5.3 percent in 2022 and 4.3 percent in 2023.

In Southeast Asia, the ADB forecasts 2022 inflation in Lao People’s Democratic Republic to grow by 17 percent, Myanmar at 16 percent, and Timor-Leste at 7.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the regional development bank expects the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow 6.5 percent in 2022 and 6.3 percent in 2023.

Marcos convened his economic team on Tuesday to determine and formulate the administration’s economic policy directions for the rest of the year until the first quarter of 2023.

They had discussed issues affecting the country such as inflation, interest rates, and foreign exchange.

He said they were able to establish policy directions for the rest of the year and first quarter of next year following the meeting.

Included in the economic team are the secretaries of finance, trade, budget, public works and highways, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) chief and the head of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Betheena Unite

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