Budget-strapped Filipinos might get a breather soon as inflation will likely slow towards the end of 2022, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s economic managers said Wednesday.
However, further interest rate hikes to keep price spikes within target are "not being ruled out", Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Felipe Medalla said. The consumer price index surged 6.4% in July, driven by food and transport, based on official data.
“I bet this has already peaked," Finance Sec. Benjamin Diokno said in a statement, referring to the July data. "As you know oil prices have started to go down. So, we expect inflation to start to decelerate towards the end of the year."
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Diokno said that inflation would fall within the government's target of 2-4% in 2023.
He said the peso has "stabilized" against the dollar and remittances from overseas Filipinos would bring it to the P55-level against the greenback by the end of the year.
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