A war of high bills and inflation that won’t chill

The poor are paying the ultimate price. (Photo: BORGEN Magazine Steven Depolo)

Yet another casualty of the Russia - Ukraine war are other countries in the danger zone of falling into severe economic crisis.

The war’s effects on energy and food prices have caused countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, and Turkey, who mostly import their goods, to go into desperation mode.

Sri Lanka, despite being far from the conflict, has been struggling to stay afloat due to the rising costs of consumer goods being too much for the government to handle. Supplies are now at an alarming low while citizens barely get to afford what’s already there. It has come to a point where the government is already asking for help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as their foreign exchange reserves have plummeted to $2.36 billion. 

For the Philippines, it’s not any better. The World Bank published a report last April 5 stating that the various sanctions placed on Russia by a number of brands will not do any favors in terms of the pricing of food and fuel. Consumers should prepare for harsh economic implications. The World Bank estimates that the poverty level in the Philippines might increase by 1% which is equivalent to 1.1 million in the population. 

The country was already busy enough having to deal with heavy fallout effects of the pandemic causing the poverty rate to rise by 23.7% during the first half of 2021. 

Even households with a fairly stable income are in for a rough change. The report continues to state that a family of five now needs at least P12,082 to meet basic needs, 14.7% higher than the monthly average of P10,532 in 2018. 

The Philippine government has already begun rolling out financial aid to lower income households due to the fuel price hikes but it is at an alarmingly low rate. 

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III offers a bit of hope as he states that the government’s economic team is “confident” that prices will go down as the year goes on. Unlike other countries, the Philippines has no problems in terms of food and energy supply. “It’s actually the anticipation of shortages that is driving up prices,” Dominguez says.