Bracing for an inflationary New Year

By Herbert Vego

FOR the less fortunate, the lenders to go to are not the banks which require documents and collaterals. When in dire need of cash, they stand better chances with lending apps that offer instant loans up to ₱30,000.

“Magtiwala sa Tala,” a familiar online video ad says.

The sudden proliferation of these loan apps seems to indicate that some Filipinos are unable to make both ends meet – hence the need to borrow money — due to insufficiency of income.

As announced by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the projected inflation rate for the Philippines in 2025 is between 2.9% and 3.4%.

The value of the peso against the US dollar has greatly diminished. When former President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in 2016, the average exchange rate was ₱49 against the dollar.

By the end of his term and the beginning of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos’ term in 2022, it had depreciated to an average of ₱55.  As of yesterday, as reported by the Manila newspapers, it was ₱57.92.

Thus, we have come to the point of wondering whether the incoming New Year would even grant us the capacity to pay our debts. Even we who think of ourselves as “middle class” grimace over unending rises in prices of food and other basic commodities.

The unwelcome price increases scare wage earners.

More often than not, we respond by pinching pennies. To make both ends meet, we buy less of our basic needs – say, a half-kilo of meat instead of the previous one kilo at the risk of our family going undernourished. But it’s really a losing game because the buying power of our money keeps on eroding.

Even the greedy merchants who impose higher prices for bigger profit eventually see the erosion of their own gains whenever they buy their own needs at higher prices. Sooner or later, whatever money they have saved in the bank devalues.

The phrase “A penny saved is a penny earned” no longer means what it says because it sheds its true value over time.

Therefore, why not make the most of it now?

Hasn’t the Great Book told us? “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

Unfortunately, that “philosophy” could do more harm than good. A devalued peso has more value than no peso at all. Why not cost-cutting instead?

Alas, cost-cutting hardly compensates, especially if it means scrimping for three budget meals a day. While we can cut and slash expenses to the bone to conserve our bottom peso, the fact remains that we could get sick and unable to afford medical expenses anymore. Going into debt would then be unavoidable.

The only way to keep pace with inflation is to earn more, which is an elusive dream for the average Filipino wage earner; or have a “sideline” or small business in which to prosper.

Those who demand wage increase but don’t get it are doomed to sink poorer.

Let’s take a look at the minimum wage earner making more or less P18,000 per month. If this were his income in the 1980s, he might have lived like a prince. Today, he has to scrimp in order to feed, clothe and educate his children. That could mean not eating out or aborting planned vacation.

We know of people whose children have transferred from exclusive private schools to tuition-free public schools.

The long and short of it is to beat inflation, which calls for bigger income, which could be an elusive dream for ordinary laborers because when they ask for wage hike across the board, their employer would have to hike prices of their products – which further fuels inflation.

We can’t stop the inflationary cycle that way. We can’t forever depend on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to boost the Philippine economy through remittances.

While the OFWs are tagged “unsung heroes” for their economic contributions, their families left behind are deprived of their paternal presence.

-oOo-

MORE POWER BULLETIN

To customers of MORE Electric and Power Corp., please be advised that its Customer Service Office (CSO) at Hotel del Rio will be closed on Monday, Dec. 30, 2024 (Rizal Day), Tuesday, Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve), and Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 (New Year).

The CSO operations will resume on Thursday, January 2, 2025.

In case of trouble with your power and electrical lines, you may reach its hotline numbers 330-6673, 0919 072 0626 and 0917 637 5214.