Inflation dampens Filipinos’ consumer spending mood
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Despite the Philippines posting an above average economic growth in 2022, experts are anticipating a slowdown in consumer spending in 2023 as inflation continues to skyrocket.
According to Ser Percival Peña-Reyes, director of the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development, said the country’s economic performance in 2022 was a “welcome development,” but inflation continues to raise risks.
Recently, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the economy grew by 7.6 per cent in 2022. National Statistician Dennis Mapa noted that this is the country’s strongest since 1976.
In a report by CNN Philippines Pena-Reyes said that the administration must strive to keep inflation under control.
“We cannot keep blaming outside factors for inflation,” he said.
The inflation rate in December 2022 was recorded at a 14-year high at 8.1 per cent. Mapa earlier said vegetable prices last month were at their highest since February 1999, noting that onion prices had a “substantial” contribution to inflation.
