President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that inflation remains one of the country's "greatest problems" despite the Philippines making significant strides in managing the economic strain caused by global inflationary pressures.
"Despite the woes brought about by global inflation, our country has still managed to curb inflation to a reasonable — almost manageable level. It remains unfortunately our greatest problem and this is inflation that is brought about by forces that we cannot control," Marcos told the government officials and the diplomatic corps during the vin d’honneur (wine of honor) at Malacañang.
While the average so far this year is still within the government's target range of 2 percent to 4 percent, the country's headline inflation accelerated for a fourth consecutive month to 3.9 percent in May.
The latest data is below the 6.1 percent published in May 2023 but somewhat higher than the 3.8 percent reported in April 2024.
Marcos underscored the progress achieved over the past year, noting a marked improvement in the economic situation.
"Nonetheless, I think that we have done a good job and with this... It is a very large improvement from what we were under — the situation that we were under maybe a year ago," Marcos said.
Marcos also highlighted the country's favorable position in terms of investment and credit ratings, as he mentioned that the Philippines continues to enjoy a “gold rating as an investment destination.”
Fitch Ratings has confirmed the nation's BBB long-term foreign currency debt grade with a stable outlook and projects a medium-term real gross domestic product growth rate of over 6 percent.
Marcos said that forecasts of robust growth through next year are encouraging for the "transformation of our economy" and that Manila's investment-grade credit rating will result in "more accessible financing" for government programs.
“We are credited with a stable output which signals growth in the momentum in the medium term. It translates to more accessible financing for our government and our programs,” Marcos said.
“So we will maintain that status and we will try to improve that across all major regional and international agencies,” Marcos added.