1. CPI of Food, Beverages and Tobacco (FBT): National Capital Region (NCR) and Areas Outside the National Capital Region (AONCR)
   

   The seasonally adjusted CPI of FBT in NCR in February remained at its January level of 147.1. On the other hand, the seasonally adjusted CPI of FBT in AONCR went down to 153.5 in February from 153.9 in January.

   Prices of FBT items in NCR remained stable as the commodity group posted zero growth in February from 0.9 percent in January. For AONCR, prices of FBT items further went down to 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent last month as favorable weather condition that prevailed during the month pushed down prices of some food items such as fish, fruits, vegetables and meat.

2. CPI of Non-FBT Items: National Capital Region (NCR) and Areas Outside the National Capital Region (AONCR)

The seasonally adjusted CPI of non-FBT items in NCR slightly decreased to 183.1 in February from 183.2 in January while that for AONCR went up to 177.0 from 176.4 last month.

The month-on-month inflation of the seasonally adjusted CPI for non-FBT items in NCR declined to 0.1 percent in February from 1.3 percent in January as prices of LPG and kerosene decreased along with lower purchased power adjustment (PPA) and currency exchange rate (CERA) in the electricity consumption. However, for AONCR, prices of non-FBT items increased to 0.3 percent from 0.1 percent due to higher electricity rates in some regions even when price decreases were noted in LPG and kerosene in many areas.

Page Last Updated: March 11, 2002