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 went down to 147.5 in January from 148.5 in December. Likewise, the seasonally adjusted CPI of FBT in AONCR decreased to 154.0 in January from 154.2 last month.

   Seasonal factors in January such as the cold weather condition brought lower production of eggs, thus raising prices in NCR and AONCR. Fish prices were also up in AONCR due to limited supply brought by difficulty in catching fishes that usually settle deep in the waters during the cold months. Moreover, prices of chicken and pork were also higher in the area. These factors pushed up prices of FBT in the two areas relative to the expected trend.

   On a monthly basis, prices of seasonally adjusted FBT items in NCR and AONCR correspondingly declined to -0.7 percent and -0.1 percent in January from their respective December rates of -0.3 percent and 0.1 percent.

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 picked up to 183.1 in January from its December level of 181.2 while that for AONCR went down to 176.3 from 176.5 last month.

The practice of increasing rental rates during the beginning of the year and the slowdown in trading of some items in personal care after the traditional New Year's peak pushed up prices of non-FBT items in AONCR. However, higher rental rates in NCR did not affect prices of non-FBT items in the area.

The month-on-month inflation of the seasonally adjusted CPI for non-FBT items in NCR rose to 1.0 percent in January from 0.9 percent in December while that for AONCR, prices of non-FBT items moved down to -0.1 percent from an increase of 0.1 percent.

Page Last Updated: February 8, 2002