Benjamin Diokno Says President Bongbong Marcos’ Disbelief At 6.1% June Inflation “Misunderstood”

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno: “[T]he President’s disbelief at the 6.1% June 2022 inflation rate figure was misunderstood.”

BENJAMIN DIOKNO — The Finance Secretary said that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s disbelief at the 6.1% June inflation rate figure was “misunderstood”.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno
Photo: PCOO / Facebook

The President appeared to have cast doubt on the report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that the inflation rate in June 2022 reached 6.1% when prices were compared to the same month in last year. 

On Tuesday, the President said in a press briefing that he “will have to disagree with” the 6.1% June 2022 inflation rate figure, saying “we are not that high”.

I think that I will have to… I will have to disagree with that number. We are not that high. We have crossed the .. our targets were less 4 percent or less, unfortunately, it looks like we may cross that… cross that threshold. Tatawid tayo sa 4 percent,” the President said. 

Following his remark, PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa said that the agency is standing by its report.

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On Wednesday, Diokno clarified the President’s remark expressing disagreement with the 6.1% June inflation rate reported by the PSA.

He was referring to it as a full-year figure when in fact the year-to-date (January to June) average inflation rate was actually 4.4 percent,” the Finance Secretary said.

Diokno added that the President was correct in saying that inflation was a worldwide problem.

He also said that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects inflation “will remain elevated in the next few months” but will slow down to 4.2% in 2023 and back to the target rate of 3.3% by 2024.

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