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

A. 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 items in NCR and AONCR correspondingly moved up to 155.1 and 170.3 in October from their respective September levels of 154.7 and 170.0.

The inclement weather brought by typhoon “Juan” lowered volume of vegetable deliveries by producers from the Northern Luzon areas in NCR markets during the month. The difficulty in catching fish species that usually settle deep in the waters during the rainy season resulted to less supply in the wet markets. Price additions in off-season fruits were also seen in NCR. These seasonal factors pushed up prices of FBT items in NCR. Meanwhile, these seasonal factors generally pushed down prices of FBT items in AONCR relative to the expected trend.

Compared to last month, prices of the seasonally adjusted CPI for FBT items in NCR rose 0.3 percent in October from -0.1 percent in September. However, the increase in the prices of the seasonally adjusted CPI for non- FBT items in AONCR at 0.2 percent in October was slower than the 0.4 percent growth in September.

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 posted at 167.8 in October was lower than its September level of 168.0 while in AONCR, its level went up to 164.8 from 164.4.

Seasonal factor like the increase in production of selected goods in preparation for the holiday season pushed down prices of non-FBT items in NCR. This seasonal factor however raised prices of non-FBT items in AONCR relative to the expected trend.

The month-on-month inflation of the seasonally adjusted CPI for non-FBT items in NCR remained at -0.1 percent while that in AONCR picked up to 0.2 percent from 0.1 percent.

Page last updated: November 5, 2010