by ABS-CBN News, May 17 2018
MANILA – Inflation in the Philippines may hit 6 percent in August this year because of a number of factors, an economist at Standard Chartered said Thursday.
Chidu Narayanan, Standard Chartered economist for Asia, said inflation may average 5.2 percent in 2018 before sliding to 4.9 percent in 2019.
Higher government spending on infrastructure, the impact of the recent tax reforms, a weaker peso as well as the spike in the cost of crude oil on the world market are all contributing to higher inflation, Narayanan said in an interview with ANC’s Market Edge.
Because of this, Narayanan said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas may again hike interest rates as early as June.
But Narayanan also said the Philippine economy is strong enough to shrug off higher interest rates.
“The BSP could hike [policy rates] comfortably without derailing growth,” he said.
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