Press Release
May 8, 2019

STATEMENT OF SENATOR WIN GATCHALIAN ON THE APRIL 2019 INFLATION RATE

The country's headline inflation continues its steady deceleration at 3.0% in April 2019 despite the increase in oil prices last month and the persisting dry spell that has now destroyed close to P8 billion worth of agricultural crops. The latest inflation rate is close to our own estimate of 3.1% and is in consensus with the forecast of economists.

The 3.0% inflation rate continues to give the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) enough policy space to cut rate to spur economic growth. The BSP might consider decreasing its policy rate by 25 basis points when the monetary board convenes this week in order to stimulate growth.

Moreover, to ensure that inflation will remain stable, the government needs to ramp up programs that will help boost the country's agricultural productivity and food security, while improving farmers' margins in the long run. On the legislative side, I am pushing for passage of Senate Bill No. 2171 or the Philippine Warehouse Receipts Act of 2019, which aims to revitalize and upgrade the warehouse receipts system and mprove agricultural trade by providing farmers an evolved warehouse ecosystem that will enable them to store their goods and produce in warehouses, then trade at the best possible price.

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