Here are Other Asian Countries with Surging Inflation Rates

Inflation rates in the Philippines continue to surge, leading Filipinos around the country to contemplate why the Philippine peso weakens further and the price of basic commodities continue to skyrocket.

The situation in the country is so bad that the Philippine peso closed last Wednesday’s spot trading at PHP55.67 against the United States dollar. This is the weakest that the peso performed in almost 17 years.

The tanking of the economy of various countries is attributed in part due to the possibility of a recession in the US, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the Philippines is not the only country in Asia that is currently tanking. Here are other countries facing similar problems.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has been suffering a political and economic crisis for several months now, but Sri Lankans are now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel as their continued call for the resignation of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been heard.

Rajapaksa has offered his resignation as he was forced to flee after a large group of protesters stormed his residence.

In June, inflation in Sri Lanka reached a record 54.6 percent year-on-year. Moreover, food inflation in the country reached 80.1 percent the same month.

The economic crisis of Sri Lanka was brought about mainly by the COVID-19 pandemic as the country, which relies heavily on tourism, was hit hard.

The country also accumulated debt even before the pandemic hit due to spending on infrastructure. The government finances soon hit rock bottom and pushed the country to default back in May.

Japan

Japan was also affected with what’s happening globally, as the country who usually is not concerned with inflation, which had an average inflation rate of more or less 0.40 percent last decade suddenly had to deal with an inflation rate of over 2 percent.

The inflation rate of Japan in May reached 2.5 percent, which was more than the Japan central bank’s target of 2 percent.

Moreover, the Japanese yen also experienced weakening as the currency hit a low last seen over 20 years ago against the US dollar in March.

South Korea

Another Asian juggernaut also experienced the adverse effects of inflation as South Korea is also experiencing a significant surge in its inflation rate.

South Korea’s inflation rate surged to 6 percent back in June, which was the highest inflation rate has been in the country in 24 years.

Similar to the Philippines, oil prices in South Korea are also rapidly rising.

The country is now facing a surge in oil prices that is over 30 percent higher than that of the same period last year. (GFB)