APRIL 2014
Year-on-Year and Month-on-Month Growth Rates
of General Retail Price Index: April 2014 and March 2014
| All Items | April 2014 | March 2014 | Year-to-date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year-on-Year | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 |
| Month-on-Month | 0.2 | 0.1 |
Year-on-Year
The annual change in the General Retail Price Index (GRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) picked up 2.3 percent in April and 2.2 percent in March. This was attributed to higher annual growths in the indices of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials at 5.5 percent; chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats, 1.7 percent; manufactured goods, classified chiefly by materials, 1.5 percent; and machinery and transport equipment, 0.9 percent. The indices of beverages and tobacco and crude materials, inedible except fuels correspondingly eased to 3.3 percent and 2.9 percent. Last month, these indices recorded growths of 3.4 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively. Movements in food and miscellaneous manufactured articles indices remained at their corresponding last month’s rates of 3.0 percent and 1.6 percent.
By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month
The GRPI for all items in NCR grew by 0.2 percent in April.
A 0.4 percent growth was noted in the heavily-weighted food index. This was due to upward price adjustments in selected foodstuffs such as chicken, beef, pork, dairy products, vegetables, coffee and cooking oil. Prices of poultry feeds and ice block also went up during the period.
The index of beverages and tobacco inched up 0.4 percent. It resulted from the price upticks in liquors, wines, beer, softdrinks and selected cigarettes.
The index of machinery and transport equipment gained 0.4 percent as prices of selected electrical wires and wiring devices were on the uptrend.
Price add-ons in selected ready-made garments and footwear effected 0.2 percent growth in the index of miscellaneous manufactured articles.
The monthly increment in chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats index was posted at 0.2 percent as selected medical, pharmaceutical preparations, soap and other washing and cleaning compounds, insecticides and photo films were priced higher during the month.
Prices of selected construction materials such as plywood, cement, hollow blocks, sand paper, steel bars and nails were pegged higher during the month. Thus, the manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index picked up 0.2 percent.
The index of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials declined by 0.6 percent due to price reductions in LPG, kerosene and floorwax.
No movement was seen in the index of crude materials, inedible except fuels as it registered a zero growth in April.
