ECONOMIC officials on Friday, October 5, listed proposed strategies to address the rising prices of fuel and basic commodities.

In a statement issued shortly after the Philippine Statistics Authority announced the September 2018 inflation rate, the economic team cited the Department of Energy’s (DoE) e-Power Mo program, the Public Utility Vehicles modernization program of the Department of Transportation, and other renewable energy initiatives.

The team also cited a plan by the DOE and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to grant fuel subsidies to canned sardines and other food manufacturers that are also reliant on fuel products.

The team - composed of the Department of Finance, Department of Budget and Management and the National Economic and Development Authority - also reiterated its call for rice tariffication.

A proposed bill seeks to amend Republic Act No. 8178 or the Agricultural Tariffication Act, which will significantly bring down the price of rice and improve the competitiveness of the rice sector in the long term.

"We thank the House of Representatives for approving this measure in its third and final reading. We now urge our fellow public servants in the Senate to accelerate its passage," the team stated.

This is among the medium to long-term reforms to address inflation, besides the immediate to short-term measures proposed through the Administrative Order No. 13, series of 2018, issued by the President.

Read statement in full here.

The country's inflation rate accelerated further to a nine-year high of 6.7 percent in September, slightly higher than the 6.4 percent recorded in August.

In a separate statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said this is in line with the projected inflation path, "which suggests that, in the absence of further shocks, inflation may have peaked in the third quarter of 2018, and is expected to decelerate in 2019 and 2020."

Read BSP statement in full here. (PR)