Inflation: Behind the numbers are real people struggling to make ends meet

MANILA, Philippines—Rose Bustamante had the chance to go to the market this week, but as she went inside, she stared at the P300 she held, which was all she had to spend on food and other basic needs on that day. She initially had P330, but she had to pay P25 for fare and spare P25 again so she could go home. As a result, she had P280 left, same as the food threshold set by the government in 2021. RELATED STORY: PH poverty: You’re not poor if you spend more than P18.62 per meal With only P280, Bustamante, wife of a farmer and mother of three children, bears the heavy responsibility of completing the family’s food requirements with the money she had. She pointed out, however, that P280 is not the usual budget because often, her husband only brings home a little over P100. Sometimes, it’s even below that, she said. But on the day she went to the market, her P280 was only enough for basic dishes—“no frills”—like a breakfast of scrambled eggs, a lunch of adobong paa ng manok, and a dinner of longanisa and hotdog. “We already consider these a lot, so try to think of what we have on a usual day with only P100 or even below,” Bustamante told INQUIRER.net in Filipino. “That’s why I’m really worried about the days ahead. Would we still have enough to eat?” Prices in a grocery store are even higher, with the value of what Bustamante got reaching as high as P574.5. Rising again The increase in prices over time, which can be translated as the decline in the value of money, the word “inflation” has been so common in the last few months, especially with its acceleration to an all-time high. Based on Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data, inflation hit 8.7 percent in January and eventually slowed down to 4.7 percent in July before soaring to 5.3 percent in August and 6.1 percent in September. READ: PH inflation rose to 6.1% in Sept as food prices, transport cost soared The PSA attributed this to the higher year-on-year rise in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages. Year-to-date, average inflation is at 6.6 percent, away from the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent. As stated by Pulse Asia, 74 percent of Filipinos were worried about inflation in September, way higher than the 63 percent in June. Some 48 percent, it said, considered “controlling Read more at: inquirer

Tags : inflation behind numbers people struggling

Disclaimer : We make no assurance about the completeness and accuracy of the content of this website. All news on this website is collected from various sources hence information may or may not be true. Bollywood charcha does not verify the reliability of the content published. We do not accept any accountability for loss or damage occurred as a result of reliability on the content of this website.