Food, Beverages and Tobacco (FBT) and Non-FBT Items
(NCR and AONCR - December 2010)

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

The seasonally adjusted December CPI of FBT items in NCR was registered at its November level of 157.3. In AONCR, its level went up to 172.4 from 171.4.

Higher demand for meat and fish were noticed during the holiday season. Likewise, the difficulty in catching fish species during the cold weather conditions resulted to its lower supply in the wet markets, thus increasing their prices. These seasonal factors pushed up prices of FBT items in NCR relative to the expected trend. However, these seasonal factors did not raise prices of FBT items in AONCR.

The seasonally adjusted CPI for FBT items in NCR posted a zero growth in December from 1.4 percent in November. Meanwhile, prices of the seasonally adjusted CPI for FBT items in AONCR moved at its last month’s rate of 0.6 percent.

B. 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 recorded correspondingly at 171.6 and 167.2 were higher than their respective November levels of 170.7 and 166.1. Seasonal factors such as the higher demand for selected goods due to the holiday season pushed down prices of non-FBT items in NCR. In AONCR, these seasonal factors did not affect prices of non-FBT items relative to the expected trend.

The month-on-month inflation of the seasonally adjusted CPI for non-FBT items in NCR decelerated to 0.5 percent in December from 1.7 percent last month. On the other hand, movement in the prices of these items in AONCR was noted at its last month’s rate of 0.7 percent.

Page last updated: January 5, 2011