APRIL 2013
Year-on-Year and Month-on-Month Growth Rates
of General Retail Price Index: April and March 2013
| All Items | April 2013 | March 2013 | Year-to-date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year-on-Year | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
| Month-on-Month | 0.1 | -0.1 |
Year-on-Year
The annual uptick in the General Retail Price Index (GRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) decelerated to 3.1 percent in April from 3.2 percent in March. The annual increment of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index further dropped by 6.5 percent in April from -4.3 percent in March. Moreover, the annual growths in the indices of chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials correspondingly slowed down to 2.0 percent and 1.5 percent from their last month’s rates of 2.4 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. On the other hand, a higher annual rate was noted in food index at 2.1 percent from 2.0 percent; beverages and tobacco index, 19.9 percent from 19.7 percent; crude materials, inedible except fuels index, 10.2 percent from 9.9 percent; and machinery and transport equipment index, 3.7 percent from 3.6 percent. The annual adjustment in the miscellaneous manufactured articles index remained at 4.2 percent.
By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month
On a monthly basis, the GRPI in NCR inched up by 0.1 percent in April from -0.1 percent in March.
The heavily-weighted food index went up 4.0 percent in April from a 0.2 percent decline in March. This was attributed to the increases in the prices of beef, pork, chicken, dairy products and selected fruits and vegetables.
Price add-ons in sand effected a 0.2 percent growth in crude materials, inedible except fuels index.
The machinery and transport materials index advanced 0.3 percent from 0.1 percent last month due to price hikes in fluorescent tube and insulated electrical wires and wiring devices.
Ready-made clothing such as boy’s pants, women’s underwear, boy’s and girl’s socks, infant’s underwear were priced higher during the month. Moreover, prices of girl’s shoes, reading eyeglasses, textbooks and refillable ballpen also went up. Thus, the miscellaneous manufactured articles index rose 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent.
Upward price adjustments in liquors and wines including softdrinks and selected cigarettes pulled up the beverages and tobacco index by 0.5 percent.
The manufactured goods, classified chiefly by materials index grew by 0.1 percent as prices of construction materials such as cement, hollow blocks, steel bars, corrugated GI sheets and nails picked up during the month.
Price mark-ups in paints and related compounds raised the chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats index by 0.1 percent.
Price rollbacks in gasoline, LPG, diesel fuel, engine oil and kerosene resulted to the 3.0 percent decline in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index.
