Low income families in Guimaras spent more on Food, non-alcoholic drinks

Low-income families in the province of Guimaras spent more on food and non-alcoholic beverages contributing 80.8% to the inflation trend or 5.2 percentage points to the 6.4% inflation for all items, based on the generated data of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the Retail Price Survey (RPS) of Commodities conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

“Food inflation for this income group is monitored, as they are the most vulnerable to economic and social difficulties,” Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said.

The data showed that food inflation for the bottom 30% of income households in Guimaras slowed down to 9.0 percent in March 2023 from 10.5 percent in the previous month.

“The figure is still higher by 3.9 percentage points than the March 2022 inflation rate of 5.1 percent,” Losare explained.

Inflation on non-alcoholic beverages moved faster to 2.3% in March 2023 from the 1.9% registered in February 2023, however, the figure is still slower than the 3.9 percent inflation in March 2022.

For the past thirteen (13) months, the highest food inflation was recorded at 10.7% in August 2022, while for non-alcoholic beverages, 6.2% in October 2022.

Losare also elaborated that food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed 80.8% to the overall inflation of the bottom 30% of income households in Guimaras in March 2023, contributing 5.2 percentage points to the 6.4% inflation for all items of the income group in the province.

“The Major contributors to the slowing down on food inflation are; Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses contributed 23.0% to the inflation trend, translating to 2.1 percentage points share to the 9.0% food inflation; Fish and other seafood shared 17.6% or 1.6 percentage points to the food inflation; and Sugar, confectionery, and desserts with 14.3% share or 1.3 percentage points to the 9.0% food inflation of the income group in March 2023,” she added.

Nine (9) out of thirteen (13) Food commodity groups managed to slow down their annual rate of change in the prices in March 2023 compared to the annual rate of change a month ago, such as; Cereals and Cereal Products (3.1% from 4.3%); Cereals (2.7% from 4.7%); Rice (2.6% from 4.5%); Corn (12.1% from 19.5%); Meat and Other Parts of Slaughtered Land Animals (7.3% from 8.5%); Milk, Other Dairy Products, and Eggs (12.5% from 13.1%); Fruits and Nuts (9.9% from 15.8%); Vegetables, Tubers, Cooking Bananas, and Pulses (29.1% from 42.1%); and Sugar, Confectionery, and Desserts (54.9% from 56.0%)

Meanwhile, four (4) commodity groups exhibited a higher year-on-year rate of price changes during the month, these were; Flour, Bread and Other Bakery Products, Pasta Products, and Other Cereals, (4.6% from 2.8%); Fish and Other Seafood (6.5% from 5.3%); Oils and Fats (38.7% from 36.3%); and Ready-Made Food and Other Food Products N.E.C. (0.2% from -2.3%).