The National Statistics Office (NSO) recently released the Seasonally Adjusted Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) as well as other non-FBT items for April and May 2001. Such reports can be found in the NSO website at www.census.gov.ph. The following press release is for the month of June 2001. For the July 2001, the press release will be out on August 13, 2001. Succeeding press releases will be released on a monthly basis, not later than five working days after the release of the regular CPI series.

The seasonally adjusted CPI refers to the modified CPI series after factors that may cause periodic changes or fluctuations in prices have been separated or isolated from the fixed market basket being monitored. Some of these factors may include weather disturbances, production cycle of crops, artificial increase in the demand for certain supplies and services. After due considerations and removal of these seasonal variations, the resulting CPI series is referred to as the seasonally adjusted or deseasonalized series. Seasonally adjusted series allows for the analysis or comparison of adjustments in CPI on a month-on-month basis and gives a more realistic picture of short-term trends. In general, a lower seasonally adjusted CPI from the regular CPI series connotes that seasonal factors tend to push up prices. Brief technical notes can also be found in this report.

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 up to 148.9 in June 2001 from 148.3 a month ago. Similarly, the seasonally adjusted CPI of FBT in AONCR rose to 152.5 in June from 151.4 the previous month.

   For NCR, prices of FBT were not affected by seasonal factors in June. On the other hand, prices in AONCR were pushed down by seasonal factors.

   Compared to May 2001, seasonally adjusted month-on-month inflation of FBT items in NCR moved at a slower rate of 0.4 percent in June from 0.6 percent. On the other hand, in AONCR, seasonally adjusted FBT items picked up to 0.7 percent in June from 0.3 percent a month ago.

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 and AONCR respectively increased to 173.3 and 174.1 in June from their corresponding May levels of 172.3 and 173.5. Prices of non-FBT items in NCR and AONCR were pushed up by the seasonal factors during the month.

   The month-on-month inflation of the seasonally adjusted CPI for non-FBT items in NCR moved up to 0.6 percent in June from 0.2 percent in May. Meanwhile, prices of non-FBT items in AONCR slowed down its rate to 0.3 percent in June from 0.5 percent in May.

Page Last Updated: August 10, 2001