Guimaras’ inflation rate rises to 3.1 % in May 2020

Guimaras province’s year on year inflation rate accelerated to 3.1 percent in May 2020, which is 1.9 percentage points higher compared to 1.2 percent a year ago due to faster movements on both the heavily weighted food and non-food commodity items.

The surge resulted in a 0.3 percent increment in month-on-month inflation in May 2020.

Among the 11 commodity groups, only Transport posted a 14.3 percent dropped, while Communication remained steady at 99.9 price index in May 2020.

The food and non-food commodity items which contributed to the speedy movements of the May 2020 inflation rate are:

-Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 3.5%

-Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 23.3%

-Clothing and Footwear, 4.0%

-Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels, 7.2%

-Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Maintenance of the House, 2.3%

-Health, 3.9%

-Recreation and Culture, 3.1%

-Education, 1.3%

-Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 2.7%

Moreover, the 0.3 percentage points increment in May 2020 at 3.1 inflation against 2.8 percent in April 2020 was due to the slight increment in both the heavily weighted food and non-food commodities. This was tempered by the Food and Non- Alcoholic Beverages which posted a 1.3 percent drop from an index of 134.6 in April 2020 to 132.8 in May 2020.

Meanwhile, unchanged indices were noticed in Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (271.2); Clothing & Footwear (118.1); Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Maintenance of the House (136.1); Communication (99.9); Recreation and Culture (106.1); and Education with 118.1 index.

Guimaras’ Inflation for Food and Non- Alcoholic beverages, slowed in May 2020 exhibiting a 1.3 percent dropped brought about by the 1.4 percent decreased in the price indices of food items.

Four out of nine food commodity sub-groups displayed slower price movements:

-Bread and Cereals, -2.5%

-Meat, -0.6%

-Fish, -3.7%

-Food Products N.E.C., -0.4%

The price index of Bread and Cereals slowed to 123.5 in May from 126.7 in April, resulting in a -2.5 percent inflation driven by the heavily weighted rice commodity which decreased to 3.1 percent.

Moreover, the rate of change in the prices of fruits and vegetables moved faster at 2.7 percent each, month-on-month, while Oils and Fats displayed slower price movement at 0.1 percent; Sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery at 0.4 percent.

Milk, Cheese and Eggs indices however, remained steady in April and May 2020.

Note: The PSA was able to collect prices from the sample markets/outlets even during the Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic period. Normally, face-to-face interview or visit to sample markets/outlets is done to collect prices. However, when face-to face interview was not possible in some areas, alternative approaches such as phone call/text to sellers of the sample outlets, email to sample outlets, and other alternative approaches/strategies were done to collect prices.