Manila: The country's economic managers are optimistic that inflation would further ease in 2025, projecting it to be 2.9 percent to 3.1 percent, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said Tuesday. 'We expect inflation to be 2.9 to 3.1 percent next year. So, even lower than this year,' Recto said in a Palace press briefing. Recto also expressed confidence that inflation would decrease further to 2.5 percent in September this year. Despite external headwinds such as the Middle East crisis and oil price increases, Recto said the government is 'on track' to achieve its inflation target for September 2024. The country's inflation in August eased to 3.3 percent, down from July's 4.4 percent, according data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. Recto, however, acknowledged that inflation is 'seasonal' and may tick up in the fourth quarter of 2024. While he is expecting a higher inflation during the October to December 2024 period, Recto said it will still be within the government's target range of 2 to 4 percent. Recto said the government has various social programs intended to help Filipinos cope with inflation. 'Tuwing fourth quarter tumaas nang konti pero (It usually increases slightly during the fourth quarter but) like I said, we expect it to be within the target range of the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) of anywhere between 2 to 4 percent,' he said. 'So, for the full year, we're looking at the total inflation rate to be about 3.4 percent more or less. And the beauty about reducing inflation is that your GDP (gross domestic product) growth goes up and more jobs can be created, you're borrowing cost goes down,' Recto added. Recto said the Philippine economy is 'continuously growing,' noting that on the average, it settles between 6 percent and 6.1 percent during the first two years of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s administration. Source: Philippines News Agency