Informative Speech

Inflation in the Philippines

Inflation is the rise in prices, which can be translated as the decline of purchasing
power over time. The rate at which purchasing power drops can be reflected in the
average price increase of a basket of selected goods and services over some period of
time. The rise in prices, which is often expressed as a percentage, means that a unit of
currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.
After many years in which inflation was something that most people didn't think
too much about, it is now a topic of everyday conversation. This is understandable as
higher prices are putting pressure on people's budgets. In many countries, inflation is
now running at its highest rate in decades. Inflation accelerated to 6.9 percent in
September, according to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which is the highest in
four years, mainly driven by higher food prices. Philippines not only buys sugar, salt and
garlic from abroad, but also imports a raft of other food commodities such as rice,
wheat, corn and soybean meal, and that’s after global farm prices surged to a record
this year on the back of lower world supply caused by drought, heat and Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine.
The National Economic and Development Authority pointed out that rising
inflation was not confined to the Philippines, noting that other countries were being
affected by surging commodity prices, logistics bottlenecks, weather shocks, and a
strengthening US dollar. Continued timely implementation of government measures
would be crucial in mitigating the impact of persistent supply-side pressures on food and
other commodity prices. These include "ramping up local production, ensuring timely
importation of goods, fertilizers and raw materials, and improving distribution efficiency."