Inflation for Guimaras’ low-income households slows down to 7.6 pct

Guimaras, Philippines — The inflation rate for the bottom 30% income households in Guimaras fell to 7.6% in June 2024, ending a five-month streak of acceleration.

The decline is attributed to slower increases in the prices of food, clothing, and tobacco, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare noted that the inflation rate, which measures the rate of increase in the cost of goods and services, decreased from 8.8% in May. Despite this drop, the year-on-year inflation rate in June was still higher than the 4.5% recorded in the same month last year.

“The slower inflation rate in June broke the acceleration mark in the first semester of 2024, bringing the provincial average inflation for low-income households to 7.7 percent,” Losare said.

The three commodity groups that significantly contributed to this downward trend were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, with inflation dropping from 12.7% in May to 10.9% in June; Clothing and Footwear, which fell from 3.5% to 2.5%; and Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, which decreased from 3.7% to 3.1%.

Losare explained that the price increases for food and non-alcoholic beverages were mainly slowed by the gradual rise in the prices of cereals and cereal products, particularly rice, which saw its inflation rate drop from 31.6% in May to 26.7% in June.

Clothing and Footwear prices were pressed by the sluggish price index of garments, especially for women and girls, with a significant drop from 6.0% to 1.3%.

The Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco group saw a decrease mainly due to the gradual change in the price of tobacco, with inflation on cigarettes dropping from 2.9% to 1.8%.

In contrast, Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels showed a faster inflation rate of 2.2% in June compared to 3.5% in May.

Other sectors such as Information and Communication, Education Services, Restaurant and Accommodation Services, and Financial Services retained their annual rates from May to June.

Losare highlighted that the primary contributors to the June 2024 overall inflation for low-income households were:

-Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, with an 87.4% share or 6.64 percentage points;

Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels, with a 3.4% share or 0.26 percentage points; and

-Restaurants and Accommodation Services, with a 2.3% share or 0.18 percentage points.

“The bottom 30% income households in Guimaras posted a 133.8 index, indicating that a typical low-income Guimarasnon household needed 1,338 pesos in June 2024 to purchase a basket of goods and services worth 1,000 pesos in 2018. This value is lower than the 134.0 CPI in May 2024 and higher than the 124.3 CPI in June 2023,” Losare said.

She further explained that households with per capita incomes below the bottom 30% of the cumulative per capita distribution are classified as low-income. “The inflation rate for the lowest 30 percent of income households, who are particularly susceptible to economic and social challenges, is calculated to monitor their well-being,” she added.