National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan disclosed on Tuesday that the Philippines has maintained its inflation rate target in 2024.

The country ended the year with a year-to-date average of 3.2 percent as December recorded a 2.9 percent inflation rate.

Balisacan noted that the 2024 figure is a “significant improvement” from the 6.0 percent figure in 2023.

Administration efforts lauded

The NEDA chief lauded the administration’s efforts noting that the actions of the government “have been largely successful.”

“Despite the risks we encountered throughout the year, our combined efforts to temper inflation have largely been successful. We will build upon this momentum as we commit to keep the inflation rate within our target range in 2025,” he said in a statement.

In December 2024, the Development Budget Coordination Committee announced the decision to retain the annual inflation target of 2.0 to 4.0 percent until 2028.

With this, the government remained optimistic about curbing inflation this year, according to Balisacan.

“We are intensifying efforts to improve productivity, encourage innovation, and build resilience toward ensuring food security and protecting consumers’ purchasing power. This will enable us to foster stronger and more inclusive economic growth, allowing Filipinos to move closer to realizing a strong, comfortable and peaceful life,” he said.

Slight increase

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, NEDA said that inflation slightly increased in December 2024 compared to November 2024 which recorded a 2.5 percent inflation rate.

Balisacan said this is due to the higher inflation rate of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.