April 30th, 2025
As expected, inflation continues to slow down as the price pressures present last year on rice and other key commodities are no longer as heated. Year-on-year, the price of rice notably declined by 7.7 percent, a welcome development that was anticipated by the House Murang Pagkain Supercommittee. I expect prices of rice will continue to decline year-on-year, before resuming a slightly positive inflation rate midyear.
That said, we must remain vigilant about the prices of meat, which is in larger part determined by the price of corn. While corn prices declined by 1.6 percent year-on-year, meat prices increased by 8.2 percent. Fish prices are also relatively high. I expect the rates to be lower next year, as low corn prices are typically forward indicators of reduced meat and fish prices in latter months, but the inflation rate for meat is still cause for some concern.
Meat prices will have a significant impact on the nutritional balance of the household diet. Our neighbors are investing in this, alongside education in STEM, which seems to be linked with protein sufficiency.
With the rice price problem tapering off, we must continue to find solutions to the prices of vegetables, meat, and fish, which will ultimately determine whether we have a healthy, capable workforce that can withstand the volatilities of the global economy, as we have experienced recently with Trump’s tariffs and ongoing overseas conflicts.