Former central bank deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo said that Philippines may reach stagflation "at least until the next year" if the economic situation will not improve.

"We haven't entered that (stagflation) yet, but if the weakening of consumption, the weakening of investment, and the weakening of government spending continue, we will reach a point in the future where growth will become stagnant," he said in a press briefing in Manila on Wednesday.

Guinigundo explained that stagflation is "a combination of stagnant growth and high inflation".

"Our inflation right now is 7.2 percent as of September, and the BSP's (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) forecast for 2026 is 6.1 percent and next year 5.4 percent. How do we appreciate these two numbers? The BSP's target is between 2 to 4 percent, and their forecast for this year and the next is above the target, so we will have a combination of stagnant growth," he said.

"If the situation in the Philippines doesn't change—and the inflation is rising, at least for the next, at least until the next year, we could possibly reach what we call stagflation," he added.

Guinigundo also mentioned that the debt of the national government since 2019 has risen to over P19 trillion stressing the annual fiscal deficit of P1.5 trillion.

"In 2019 the debt level of the government is 7.7 trillion, at the end of 2019 which is about 40 percent of GDP. In August 2026 it reached P19.6 trillion, between 2019 and 2026 or 7 years, it increased to more or less P12 trillion pesos, now that is 66 percent of GDP," he said. Robina Asido/PHS