MANILA: Philippine inflation jumped to an almost 10-year high in September, data showed Friday, putting pressure on President Rodrigo Duterte to act as the cost of food and fuel hit the country’s poor in the pocket.
Consumer prices have risen every month this year, with food surging further after Typhoon Mangkhut, the world’s most powerful storm in 2018, smashed into the country’s northern agricultural heartland in mid-September.
Increases have been powered by a collision of factors including Duterte’s massive spending on a broad infrastructure building effort, climbing oil prices and weak farm output.
Consumer price increases accelerated to 6.7 percent, from 6.4 percent in August, in the steepest climb since February 2009, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.
“We... understand that many are feeling the hit of a faster inflation rate, particularly those who toil so hard just to keep up,” Duterte’s economics team said.
The tens of millions who get by on less than $2 per day in the Philippines have been especially hard hit by the increase.
The government has boosted imports of rice, the national cereal staple, following shortages but authorities acknowledged Friday that grain prices remain “elevated” due to the typhoon.
Analyst Astro del Castillo told AFP the problem “will not be solved overnight” because some factors are beyond the government’s control, such as oil prices. Global crude prices are sitting at a four-year high around $85 and there are warnings it they could break $100.
However, del Castillo said the people expect the president to do something about it.
“You’ve seen the (opinion) surveys. The people would like inflation to be the government’s top priority,” he added.
The Philippine central bank last month jacked up key rates for the fourth time this year, while also raising its inflation targets for this year and next.
Passage of a law lifting import quotas on rice and extra imports of other food items “could lead to an earlier return of inflation to within the target range in 2019,” it added.
Analysts believe the pain may not be over yet, with interest rates expected to climb another full point in the next six months.
The Philippine peso has been hovering at 13-year lows, closing at 54.32 to the US dollar on Thursday — making imports more expensive — while the stock market has plunged about 17 percent since December, making it one of the world’s worst performers.
Pressure on Duterte as Philippine inflation jumps
Pressure on Duterte as Philippine inflation jumps
- ‘We ... understand that many are feeling the hit of a faster inflation rate, particularly those who toil so hard just to keep up’
- ‘You’ve seen the (opinion) surveys. The people would like inflation to be the government’s top priority’
Saudi Arabia set to attract $500bn in private investment, Al-Falih tells conference
RIYADH: Sustainability, technology, and financial models were among the core topics discussed by financial leaders during the first day of the Momentum 2025 Development Finance Conference in Riyadh.
The three-day event features more than 100 speakers and over 20 exhibitors, with the central theme revolving around how development financial institutions can propel economic growth.
Speaking during a panel titled “The Sustainable Investment Opportunity,” Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih elaborated on the significant investment progress made in the Kingdom.
“We estimate in the midterm of 2030 or maybe a couple of years more or so, about $1 trillion of infrastructure investment,” he said, adding: “We estimate, as a minimum, 40 percent of this infrastructure is going to be financed by the private sector, so we’re talking in the next few years $400 (billion) to $500 billion.”
The minister drew a correlation between the scale of investment needs and rising global energy demand, especially as artificial intelligence continues to evolve within data processing and digital infrastructure in global spheres.
“The world demand of energy is continuing to grow and is going to grow faster with the advent of the AI processing requirements (…) so our target of the electricity sector is 50 percent from renewables, and 50 percent from gas,” he added.
Al-Falih underscored the importance of AI as a key sector within Saudi Arabia’s development and investment strategy. He made note of the scale of capital expected to go into the sector in coming years, saying: “We have set a very aggressive, but we believe an achievable target, for AI, and we estimate in the short term about $30 billion immediately of investments.”
This emphasis on long-term investment and sustainability targets was echoed across panels at Momentum 2025, during which discussions on essential partnerships between public and private sectors were highlighted.
The shared ambition of translating the Kingdom’s goals into tangible outcomes was particularly essential within the banking sector, as it plays a central role in facilitating both projects and partnerships.
During the “Champions of Sectoral Transformation: Development Funds and Their Ecosystems” panel, Saudi National Bank CEO Tareq Al-Sadhan shed light on the importance of partnerships facilitated via financial institutions.
He explained how they help manage risk while supporting the Kingdom’s ambitions.
“We have different models that we are working on with development funds. We co-financed in certain projects where we see the risk is higher in terms of going alone as a bank to support a certain project,” the CEO said.
Al-Sadhan referred to the role of development funds as an enabler for banks to expand their participation and support for projects without assuming major risk.
“The role of the development fund definitely is to give more comfort to the banking sector to also extend the support … we don’t compete with each other; we always complement each other” he added.
