Marcos on 6.1% inflation: Admin on the right track in lowering prices of goods

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Tuesday that the slower inflation showed that the Marcos administration was on the right track in lowering the prices of goods.

"Batid namin ang inyong hangarin na magkaroon ng mas maginhawang pamumuhay, kaya't patuloy nating pinalalakas ang mga pang-ekonomiyang hakbang ng pamahalaan," Marcos said in a tweet.

(We know your aspirations to have a better life, that's why we continue the measures in improving our economy.)

"Unti-unti nating nakakamtan ang kaginhawaang ito sa pagbaba ng inflation rate sa apat na sunod-sunod na buwan at ngayong Mayo ay nasa 6.1% na. Tanda ito ng patuloy nating pagtahak sa tamang direksyon para sa mas abot-kayang presyo ng mga bilihin," he added.

(We are slowly improving things as the inflation rate has slowed in the previous months and is now at 6.1%. It shows that the administration is on the right track in lowering the prices of goods.)

Marcos believed that his administration's measures were correct, and were improving the economy.

"It would seem that we have started off in the right direction, on the right foot. Tama naman yata ang ating ginawang mga polisiya para buhayin ulit at gawing masigla ulit ang ating ekonomiya (It seems the measures we are implementing to develop our economy are correct),” the President said in a separate video message.

Aside from fully opening the industries and businesses, the Marcos administration has been aggressive in promoting the use of modern technology to push for the digital transformation of the country.

National Statistician and PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa reported that inflation — the rate of increase in the prices of goods and services — slowed down to 6.1% last month from 6.6% in April, bringing the year-to-date rate to 7.5%.

This is the fourth time that inflation dipped from a peak of 8.7% in January and is at its lowest since July 2022’s 6.4% rate.

Year-on-year, however, the inflation print in May was still faster than the 5.4% rate seen in May 2022. Last month's inflation rate falls within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' forecast range of 5.8% to 6.6%.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual said in addressing high inflation, there is a need to remove the bottlenecks of high prices of goods, especially in the supply chain.

"Kasi there are two types of inflation we are watching, iyong food inflation at saka non-food. Doon sa food inflation, one source of increases in prices is because of bottlenecks in the supply chain," Pascual said in a Palace briefing.

"For example, may big harvest in a certain area, iyong harvest na iyon ay hindi nakakarating where the demand is. So, ang solusyon doon is to make sure that the logistics are available to be able to deliver the harvest where the demand is," he added. — DVM, GMA Integrated News