March inflation won't go higher than February's — NEDA’s Balisacan

The Philippines’ inflation rate this month is expected to be at a slower pace than what was seen in February, National Economic. and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said Thursday.

“I don't think that it will go higher than what we had last month,” Balisacan told reporters at the sidelines of the signing ceremony of the Private-Public Partnership Code’s Implementing Rules and Regulations in Mandaluyong City.

“That's so far what I, we are seeing,” the NEDA chief said without going into details.

Inflation, which measures the rate of increase in goods and services, snapped its four-month deceleration streak as it accelerated to 3.4% in February as the increase in rice prices to its highest level in 15 years weighed heavily  on food costs.

“But of course, you know, I might be surprised again by our PSA. So, we'll see,” Balisacan said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is scheduled to report official inflation figures for March on April 5, 2024.

Nevertheless, the NEDA chief expressed confidence that this month’s inflation print will not breach the government’s 2% to 4% ceiling.

“No, it won't,” Balisacan said.

Legislated wage hike

The NEDA chief also reiterated the government’s stance against a legislated wage hike.

The P100 legislated wage hike bill reached the Senate plenary last month.

Balisacan said the proposed measure appears “not to be gaining ground.”

“Of course, we wanted the wages not to rise, but we would want it to be a tripartite decision among firms, labor, and, you know, and government across the regions of the country,” he said, emphasizing that an across the board legislated wage increase would be inflationary.

“It will have an adverse impact on inflation,” he said.

The NEDA chief, meanwhile, said the Development Budget and Coordination Committee —composed of the secretaries of Finance, NEDA, Budget, and the governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas —will be having a regular meeting on Friday, March 22.

“We will review the programs, the economic programs particularly the assumptions, targets … if they have enough basis/cases for [revision],” Balisacan said.

“I don’t want to preempt the discussion because the DOF will be presenting the fiscal picture, DBM will be presenting the spending picture, the NEDA will be presenting all these growth drivers and examination of details from there we will make our collective decision. So I would not want to preempt that discussion,” he said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News