Port congestion to affect consumer prices, says BSP

Facade of Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas / Wikipedia Photo

MANILA — The country may see an increase in consumer prices in the coming months because of the Manila ports’ congestion, the central bank said.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the rise in consumer prices will only be temporary. Once the situation at Manila’s ports normalizes by October, most issues regarding the price increase will be settled.

“There are delays so there’s temporary tightness in supply. If there’s tightness, there’s some effect on prices, but it’s hard to quantify to what extent,” BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said.

Last week, Tetangco already called on the attention of the administration officials to address the issues of truck ban in Manila and rice supply shortfall in a bid to tone down price increases. Aside from these, officials were also asked to closely monitor the prices to prevent speculative trading.

The inflation rate in July stands at 4.9 percent, the highest in 33 months.