Guimaras hits quickest inflation in February 2021 at 5.5%

Guimaras’ year-on-year inflation in February 2021 was at 5.5%, the quickest in the

province since 2013, based on the result of the Survey on Retail Prices of Commodities

generated by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The February inflation in Guimaras showed an erratic trend in 9 years – from 3.7% in 2013, it dipped to -1.0% in 2015, and consistently moved upward to 4.0% in 2018 only to drop again to 2.6% in 2019 then continuously spiked to 3.8% in 2020 and 5.5% in 2021.

Guimaras Provincial Statistics Officer (PSO) Nelida B. Losare explained that the February 2021 inflation recorded an increment of 1.7 percentage points from its previous year’s rate of 3.8% due to quick price changes of heavily weighted food and nonfood commodities.

Based on the data generated from the Retail Prices Survey, heavily-weighted food and non-food commodities with marked-up prices were: Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels (5.1%); Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (2.0%); Transport (18.2%) and; Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (9.2%).

The fast-moving inflation of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels was due to the swollen price of Actual Rentals for Housing (5.6%); and Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (4.1%)

Faster inflation on Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages at 2.0% was also mainly brought by the rapid price movement on Oil and Fats (14.8%); Vegetables (10.4%); and Meat (7.7%).

The 69.7% price hike on transportation services fueled the 18.2% inflation in the Transport Commodity group in February 2021, while escalated prices on Catering Services (12.4%) also pushed the inflation of Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services.

Other non-food commodities which showed faster inflation were: Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (8.5%); Clothing and Footwear (5.2%); Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House (5.5%); Health (1.1%); and Education (5.1%).

Losare also said that only Communication and Recreation and Culture inflation remained unchanged with a 99.9 and 105.6 index, respectively.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all items in the province in February 2021 was at 128, which means that the average Guimarasnon household needs PhP28.00 more to buy a basket of goods worth PhP100.00 in 2012.

The figure is higher than the 126.8 CPI all items in January 2021.