The government should now focus on addressing supply constraints that caused high inflation, as President Marcos’ chief economic manager pointed out that monetary policy has already done enough to reign in demand. Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said that slower inflation recorded in March supports his view that monetary authorities have done enough to tame inflation with its 425 basis points policy rate increase. In March, inflation slowed to 7.6 percent, closer to the lower bound of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 7.4 percent to 8.2 percent forecast and significantly less than the consensus outlook of 8.1 percent. “The recent inflation print reflects in part the impact of previous monetary policy adjustments as well as the on-going direct measures to address disruptions in supply of key commodities as part of the whole of government approach,” Diokno told reporters. Last March 23, the BSP raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent. The last time the policy rate hit six percent was in August 2008 during the global financial crisis "Note that monetary policy works with a lag, oftentimes long lag,” Diokno said. For this reason, the finance chief said that focus now should be on the supply side of the equation, of which the national government authorities play a bigger role. Earlier, Diokno said the central bank may likely to pause hiking rates, citing the BSP “has done enough” when it raised the overnight borrowing rate to 6.5 percent. “And monetary policy is not the only game in town,” Diokno said. “At this juncture, I think non-monetary measures to ease inflation could address the problem more effectively.” To better manage consumer prices, President Marcos created the Inter-agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO). IAC-IMO serves as an advisory body to the Economic Development Group (EDG) on measures that will keep inflation, particularly on food and energy, within the government’s target range. The IAC-IMO is co-chaired by the Secretaries of the Department of Finance (DOF) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), while the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) serves as the Vice-Chairperson. Members of the IAC-IMO include the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The DOF serves as the committee’s Secretariat.