Inflation will likely fall below 2 to 4 percent in the first quarter of 2024, well beneath the government’s “target band,” Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Wednesday.
“In the first quarter of next year, I think inflation will be below 2%,” Diokno said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
The rate of increase in the prices of goods and services “will be within the band of 2% to 4% by the fourth quarter of this year,” he added.
The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) previously lowered its inflation assumption for 2023 to 5% to 6% from its previous outlook of 5% to 7% announced in April.
This was owing to the continued drop in inflation, which was at 6.1% in May from 6.6% in April, bringing the year-to-date rate to 7.5%.
It was the fourth time inflation dipped from a high of 8.7% in January and the lowest since 6.4% in July 2022.
The DBCC said earlier that inflation would return to the target range of 2% to 4% by 2024 as the administration, through the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO), set proactive measures to address the rising commodity prices.
“When inflation goes down, it does not mean that prices are no longer going up. It only means that the rate of increase in prices is not as high as before,” Diokno said.
He said that petroleum prices are already going down after skyrocketing due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Countries are already adapting to it,” the Finance chief said.