Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran. (File photo courtesy of Usec. Beltran's FB account)
MANILA -- A ranking Department of Finance (DOF) official has high hopes for a recovery in the Philippine economy after inflation resumed its downward trajectory last month.
In an economic bulletin, Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran noted the decline in the June inflation to 2.7 percent from May’s 3.2 percent mainly due to slower inflation of the heavily-weighted food index, which registered a month-on-month change of about 0.1 percentage point.
He said the 2.7-percent year-on-year increase in the domestic inflation rate is nearly half of last year’s 5.2 percent, helped also by the slower inflation of non-food indices.
“For the rest of the year, below 4 percent inflation can be achieved if month-on-month price increase is at most 0.5 percentage points,” he said.
“These favorable inflation developments plus the approval of the General Appropriations Act will enable the government to boost economic growth in the next quarters,” he added.
Domestic growth, as measured by the gross domestic product, slowed to 5.6 percent in the first quarter of the year, which authorities traced to the impact of the delay on the approval of this year’s national budget.
The government’s growth target this year is 6 percent to 7 percent. (PNA)
