IN PHOTOS: Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto co-chaired the 4th Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO) meeting with National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan on April 24, 2024 to discuss updates on the government’s strategies and relevant action plans to manage inflation.

Following the recommendation of the IAC-IMO and the Economic Development Group (EDG), President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed Administrative Order (AO) No. 20 on April 18, 2024, which aims to further streamline administrative procedures and policies, and remove non-tariff barriers.

The NEDA presented measures to mitigate food inflation, which include ensuring the effective implementation of programs that will boost agricultural productivity and the expedited issuance of the African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccine, harmonizing the demand and supply situation outlook of key commodities, and intensifying efforts to combat anti-competitive practices.

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture – Philippines (DA) provided updates on the El Niño Action Plan on Food Security and the crafting of the National La Nina Action plan.

The DA also shared its progress on the implementation of the Three-Year Food Logistics Action Agenda, recently turned over from the Department of Trade and Industry DTI Philippines, as part of the Development of the Philippine Food Chain Logistics Masterplan (PFCLM) 2023-2030.

The Plan will help guide the implementation of a nationwide food chain logistics system that will ensure the delivery of timely, quality, and fairly-priced goods.

As Chair of the IAC-IMO Subcommittee on Non-food Inflation, the Department of Finance (DOF) is on top of ensuring sufficient and affordable energy, addressing elevated and increasing oil prices, and protecting vulnerable sectors through targeted subsidies.

To efficiently track inflation developments, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) presented updates on the Unified Monitoring Dashboard.

In addition, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported its medium-term inflation outlook projection, which is expected to settle within the 2-4% target range i.e. 3.8% in 2024 and 3.2% in 2025.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (SAPIEA), Department of Energy Philippines, Department of Trade and Industry DTI Philippines, Department of Justice – Philippines, Sugar Regulatory Administration, and Philippine Statistics Authority.

The IAC-IMO serves as an advisory body to the EDG on measures that will keep inflation, particularly on food and energy, within the government’s target range at 2-4%.