DECEMBER 2012
Year-on-Year and Month-on-Month Growth Rates
of General Retail Price Index: December and November 2012
| All Items | December 2012 | November 2012 | Year-to-date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year-on-Year | 2.8 | 2.7r | 2.1 |
| Month-on-Month | 0.1 | -0.0r |
r - revised
Year-on-Year
The annual change in the General Retail Price Index (GRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) went up to 2.8 percent in December from 2.7 percent in November. The annual adjustment in the heavily-weighted food index rose to 1.3 percent from 1.0 percent in November; mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index, 1.1 percent from 0.8 percent; manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index, 2.1 percent from 2.0 percent; and machinery and transport equipment index, 4.0 percent from 3.9 percent. The rest of the commodity groups recorded slower annual rates.
The annual average growth rate of the GRPI in NCR for the year 2012 eased to 2.1 percent from 3.8 percent in 2011. This was due to the deceleration in the annual average increment of the heavily-weighted food index at 1.2 percent in 2012 from 5.3 percent in 2011; mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index, 0.9 percent from 16.3 percent and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index, 2.4 percent from 2.5 percent. On the other hand, annual average growth in beverages and tobacco index picked up to 4.6 percent from 2.8 percent; crude materials, inedible except fuels index, 3.2 percent from 2.8 percent; chemicals including animal and vegetable oils and fats index, 2.4 percent from 2.0 percent; machinery and transport equipment index, 2.7 percent from 2.1 percent; and miscellaneous manufactured articles index, 2.5 percent from 1.2 percent.
By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month
On a monthly basis, the GRPI in NCR inched up 0.1 percent in December from zero growth in November.
Price hikes in plywood, lawanit and steel bars raised the manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index by 0.3 percent from 0.1 percent.
The 0.2 percent increase in machinery and transport equipment index was due to upward price adjustments in selected electrical wires and wiring devices.
The index for beverages and tobacco moved upward by 0.1 percent brought about by the price add-ons in selected liquors and wines beer, cola drink and cigarettes during the month.
Price gains in paints, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, cosmetics and other chemical products resulted to a 0.1 percent increment in the index for chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats.
Prices of selected plumbing fixtures, rubber and leatherette slippers were higher during the month. Thus, the index in miscellaneous manufactured articles went up 0.1 percent.
Sufficient supplies of fresh vegetables lowered its prices in the markets. Meanwhile, fresh fruits and selected fish species were priced higher due to bigger demand during the holiday season. These offsetting price movements resulted to a zero percent change in the heavily-weighted food index.
Price cuts on gravel and sand pulled down the index for crude materials, inedible except fuels by 1.4 percent.
The index for mineral fuels lubricants and related materials dropped by 0.4 percent. This was effected by the price rollbacks in gasoline, LPG, diesel fuel, engine oil and kerosene.
