Malacanang said on Thursday the public should not be alarmed over the 5.2 percent inflation in June, way above the government's target for the year.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque explained the high inflation rate was because more money has been going around.

"There’s money going around, that’s why you are bound to have inflation. There’s money from the free tuition. There’s money from taxes that’s paid by those who are earning 250,000 (pesos). There’s money because of economic activity spurred by the ‘build, build, build’," he said.

"But it is not something to worry about. It’s within historical amounts. It’s higher than usual but it’s not something that we should be alarmed," Roque added.

June inflation hit 5.2 percent, higher than the 4.6 percent during the previous month. This was also beyond the 2-4 percent target for the full year.

Meanwhile, on the P1-increase on jeepney fare, Roque said this is temporary.

"So it’s a result of the increased in the price of petroleum but we assure you, if the price of petroleum goes down, there will be corresponding adjustments as well," he said.

From the minimum jeepney fare of P8, it would become P9. Celerina Monte/DMS