NEDA says Pinoys will find ways to cope with inflation

MANILA, Philippines- The National Economic and Development Authority on Thursday belittled fears of a possible social unrest stemming from what it called an "imported" inflation. Augusto Santos, acting NEDA director general, called the present high inflation rate as "imported," claiming it is mainly a result of high prices of fuel that the Philippines imports. “I'll make a bold statement. Filipinos are not the type to engage in social unrest. That's not our culture, we're not like those in other countries," Santos said in Filipino during an interview on dzXL radio. He added that Filipinos are known to be resilient and to adjust to their conditions. "We Filipinos can adjust. We are as resilient as the bamboo," Santos said. But the country’s chief economic planning official admitted that he is uncertain when the "imported" inflation will ease, even as he claimed there are "signs" that the rise in world oil prices will stabilize soon. Santos insisted that the inflation is "imported" because oil is an imported commodity. Besides, he said the effects of the hike in world oil prices are felt worldwide. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is expecting the country’s June inflation to come in anywhere between 10.4 percent to 11.2 percent from May’s 9.6 percent. The hike in consumer prices in the country are mainly driven by the surge in oil prices, which on Wednesday had hit $145 a barrel in Asian trade owing to a drop in the US stockpile. Santos also said the government is trying to ease the impact of inflation on the poor, noting it has already given subsidies in electricity. But he admitted the government is no position to lower service fees charged by banks to overseas Filipino workers remitting their money home. "We cannot control private banks. What we can do is moral suasion, to convince them to lower their service fees in case of remittances," Santos said. GMANews.tv