Guimaras’s headline inflation slows down to 4.6% in October

Slower price movement of food and non-alcoholic beverages dragged headline inflation in Guimaras to 4.6 percent in October from 5.2 percent in September based on the latest price statistics released by the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA).

Last month’s figure is way slower than 8.7 percent a year ago.

“Inflation on Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages was posted at 8.3 percent, recording a huge share of 60.96 percent in the October headline inflation downtrend. This was followed by Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels with -0.8 percent inflation, and Restaurants and Accommodation Services with 4.8 percent inflation, sharing 23.7 and 15.2 percent, respectively to the overall inflation of Guimaras Province,” Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said.

Rice slowed down Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages group after posting an 8 percent inflation in October.

Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels’ inflation at -0.8 percent was due to the slower price change in Maintenance, Repair, and Security of the Dwelling with -4.2 percent inflation.

Slower inflation of Restaurants and Accommodation Services at 4.8 percent was driven by the Restaurants, café, and the like with full service, at 4.7 percent price increment.
“In terms of contributions to October headline inflation, Food, and Non-Alcoholic Beverages still topped the ranking with 85.5 percent splits followed by Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco with 10.7 percent inflation and Personal Care, And Miscellaneous Goods and Services with 6.1 percent inflation posting a significant cut of 7.9 and 5.6 percent, respectively,” Losare said.
The data showed that rice significantly contributed 24.1 percent to the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages. It was followed by Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses with 24.1 percent inflation contributing 17.4 percent and Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals with 11.2 inflation slicing 14.7 percent to the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages October inflation.

Losare said that for Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, the main contributor was Spirits and liquors with 13.7 percent inflation, while the prices of other appliances, articles, and products for personal care with 7.4 percent inflation supplied 5.1 percent to the October inflation of Personal Care and Miscellaneous Goods and Services.

The price statistics results also showed that among the 13 commodities, four posted a downtrend inflation from September to October 2023 (Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages; Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels; Information and Communication; and Restaurants and Accommodation Services). (See table 2)

Six commodities posted uptrend inflation: Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, Clothing, and Footwear; Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance; Health; Transport; and Recreation, Sport, and Culture. Three (3) posted a constant trend: Education Services; Financial Services and Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services. (See table 2)

“Inflation Rate is the rate of change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) derived by computing the indices relative to the same period in the previous year or month, and currently, Guimaras Province posted a 127.0 CPI, this indicates that a typical Guimarasnon household needs 1,270 pesos in October 2023 to purchase a basket of goods and services worth 1000 pesos in 2018,” Losare clarified.

“The Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) in Guimaras at 0.79 in October 2023, indicates that the one peso in 2018 is now worth 0.79 centavos, representing a 0.03 percentage points depreciation from the PPP value of 0.82 recorded in October 2022,” she added