A recent survey conducted by Pulse Asia revealed that over 50% of Filipino adults are not satisfied with how President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s administration has dealt with the issue of inflation.
Despite having a high overall approval rating, the government received its lowest score on inflation among selected national issues. The survey results as of March indicate that 52% of Filipinos disapprove of Marcos’ handling of inflation, with only 25% expressing approval of the government’s response to the rising cost of goods and services.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr scored high approval ratings on various issues such as disaster response, overseas Filipino worker protection, crime prevention, peace promotion, territorial defense, and environmental protection, with over half of Filipino adults giving him their approval. However, his administration’s performance on stabilizing prices received only a 25% approval rating.
The country experienced a 14-year high inflation rate of 8.7% in January, which slightly decreased to 8.6% in February, and further eased to 7.6% in March. Despite this, analysts noted that core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, actually increased from 7.8% to 8% in the same period.
The cost of sugar, meat, and onions had surged in recent months, while fuel prices remained high due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Department of Agriculture also warned that rice prices could increase by P5 per kilogram.
Marcos admin scores lowest in fighting PH inflation – Pulse Asia
In terms of contribution to the March 2023 headline inflation rate, the top three commodity groups were the following:
a. Food and non-alcoholic beverages with 46.6 percent share or 3.5 percentage points;
b. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 21.6 percent share or 1.6 percentage points; and
c. Restaurants and accommodation services at 10.6 percent share or 0.8 percentage points.
Food inflation at the national level also continued to move downward at 9.5 percent in March 2023 from 11.1 percent in February 2023. In March 2022, food inflation was lower at 2.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the country’s employment rate in February 2023 remained at its previous month’s rate of 95.2 percent. In February 2022, employment rate was lower at 93.6 percent.
In terms of magnitude, the number of employed persons in February 2023 was estimated at 48.80 million, higher by 3.32 million from the 45.48 million employed persons reported in February last year.
Visit our Facebook page for more news updates.