Philippines faces tough fight to maintain price stability

[MANILA] The inflation rate in the Philippines reached a 14-year high of 8.1 per cent in December, but the central bank has expressed confidence that it can be brought down to below 4 per cent by as early as the third quarter of this year.

However, analysts told The Business Times that various factors may impede the government’s drive to curb inflation in the coming months.

Michael Ricafort, the chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, noted that upward price trends of commodities like crude oil and metal, the spike in Covid-19 cases and the trend of natural calamities recently in southern Philippines, could all hamper the country’s post-pandemic recovery efforts.