The government has taken steps to address the issues contributing to the price elevation in recent months, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said on Monday.

In a statement issued by the Presidential Communications Office, the NEDA said the administration has succeeded in reducing overall inflation in the past three months, as shown by Philippine Statistics Authority data.

NEDA, however, pointed out that families tend to self-rate themselves as poor when the inflation rate, particularly food inflation, is high.

It further noted that the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey reflects that tendency, wherein half of all Filipino families described themselves as poor in March 2023.

The March 26 to 29 survey found 51 percent of Filipino families rated themselves as poor, 30 percent rating themselves as borderline, and 19 percent rated themselves as not poor.

SWS said the self-rated poor families are 14 million in March 2023 and 12.9 million in December 2022.

NEDA said the “self-rated poor” figure remained steady even as the labor market conditions have been improving.

“That is why we have been working hard to address the issues contributing to the price elevation in recent months,” NEDA said.

NEDA said “there is still much to do” as the government targets inflation to return to low levels of 2 percent to 4 percent by the end of the year. (PNA)