January 29, 2023 | 7:02 pmKeisha B. Ta-asan,THE GOVERNMENT needs to modernize its farms or generate more trade from industry and services to offset a food import policy if it is to adeqLeonardo A. Lanzona, an economics professor at the Ateneo De Manila, said the government needs to act decisively to bring inflation down to within the 2-4% target range.
“The second is to import food… but to be sustainable we need to get more trade revenue from both industry and services,” Mr. Lanzona said. National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan has said that the government will focus on modernizing agriculture and agribusiness via farm mechanization, research and development, and a focus on higher-value products.
“As the agriculture secretary, can help provide fertilizer and feed subsidies to those are affected by higher prices… Improvements in irrigation system will also help,” Ms. Velasquez said. The Monetary Board increased benchmark rates by 350 basis points last year, bringing its policy rate to 5.5% to tame inflation.According to the open letter, headline inflation started to rise in March as fuel prices increased amid concerns over tighter supply arising from the Russia-Ukraine war.