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 went up to 157.3 in January from 156.4 in December. Similarly, the seasonally adjusted CPI of FBT in AONCR increased to 161.2 from 160.1.

   Seasonal factors in January such as the cold weather condition pushed up prices of fish in NCR and AONCR brought about by limited supply due to difficulty in catching fishes that usually settle deep in the waters during the cold months.

   On a monthly basis, prices of the seasonally adjusted FBT items in NCR and AONCR correspondingly rose to 0.6 percent and 0.7 percent from 0.2 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 slightly went down to 196.9 in January from its December level of 197.0 while that for AONCR picked up to 190.3 from 190.0.

The practice of increasing rental rates during the beginning of the year did not pull up prices of non-FBT items in NCR. This seasonal factor however, did not affect prices of non-FBT items in AONCR.

The month-on-month inflation of the seasonally adjusted CPI for January non-FBT items in NCR decreased to 0.1 percent from 0.2 percent. On the other hand, the seasonally adjusted CPI for non-FBT items in AONCR moved up at a slower rate of 0.2 percent from 0.3 percent.

Page last updated: February 10, 2004