Inflation Rates, Philippines, All Items

r - revised

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
(1994=100)
FEBRUARY 1999

l By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

è All the commodity groups recorded lower inflation rates in February. The rates for food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) slowed down to 11.2 percent in February from 13.0 percent in January; clothing, 8.1 percent from 9.1 percent; housing and repairs (H&R), 9.7 percent from 10.5 percent; fuel, light and water (FLW), 3.7 percent from 5.4 percent; services, 10.0 percent from 10.5 percent; and miscellaneous items, 7.5 percent from 9.3 percent.

>The inflation rate for food alone was 11.4 percent in February, lower than 13.2 percent in January. Lower rates were noted in the prices of rice, 6.5 percent from 6.8 percent; cereal preparations, 7.8 percent from 8.9 percent; dairy products, 6.5 percent from 11.5 percent; eggs, 15.6 percent from 16.3 percent; fish, 11.7 percent from 12.2 percent; fruits and vegetables, 38.1 percent from 46.7 percent; meat, 7.4 percent from 8.5 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 9.5 percent from 10.8 percent. However, a slightly faster rate was posted in the price of corn, -3.8 percent from 5.5 percent.

è The same trend was observed in Metro Manila (MM). FBT inflation slowed by 1.9 percentage points; clothing, 2.1 percentage points; H&R, 1.6 percentage points; FLW, 4.3 percentage points; services, 0.5 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 2.4 percentage points.

> The inflation for food alone in MM moved down to 11.4 percent from 13.4 percent in January. Lower rates were posted in the prices of rice, -0.2 percent from 0.1 percent; corn, -7.3 percent from 2.5 percent; dairy products, 4.8 percent from 9.3 percent; eggs, 26.5 percent from 27.1 percent; fruits and vegetables, 55.0 percent from 67.4 percent; and meat, 7.2 percent from 9.4 percent. However, higher rates were registered in the prices of cereal preparations, 8.0 percent from 5.2 percent; fish, 15.6 percent from 15.5 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 2.9 percent from 2.7 percent.

è For areas outside Metro Manila (AOMM), all the commodity groups posted lower inflation rates in February. The rates for FBT went down by 1.9 percentage points; clothing and FLW, 0.6 percentage point; H&R, 0.2 percentage point; services, 0.5 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 1.6 percentage points.

> The inflation rate for food alone went down to 11.4 percent from 13. 2 percent in January.

> The inflation rate for rice moved down to 7.5 percent from 7.9 percent last month. Nine regions posted lower rates; the biggest decline was 5.3 percentage points in Central Visayas.

> Inflation rates for cereal preparations decelerated to 7.7 percent from 10.3 percent; dairy products, 7.1 percent from 12.3 percent; eggs, 12.4 percent from 13.1 percent; fish, 10.8 percent from 11.3 percent; fruits and vegetables, 33.2 percent from 40.5 percent; meat, 7.5 percent from 8.1 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 12.4 percent from 14.4 percent. A higher rate was recorded in the price of corn, -3.7 percent from 5.6 percent.

l By Region, Year-on-Year

è The inflation rate for Metro Manila went down to 8.7 percent in February from 10.5 percent in January.

è AOMM inflation slowed down to 10.5 percent from 11.9 percent last month. All the regions registered lower inflation rates. The biggest decline was noted in Cagayan Valley and Western Mindanao at 2.1 percentage points. Southern Mindanao posted the lowest inflation rate at 7.0 percent while Cagayan Valley recorded the highest rate at 13.8 percent.

l By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

è Month-on-month inflation rates for all the commodity groups were lower in February except for FLW which increased to 0.2 percent from zero growth. FBT went down to 0.5 percent from 2.5 percent; clothing, 0.4 percent from 2.4 percent; H&R, 0.9 percent from 2.2 percent; services, 0.8 percent from 1.4 percent; and miscellaneous items, 0.3 percent from 1.2 percent.

> The price of rice slowed down to 0.5 percent in February from 2.5 percent in January. Seven regions registered slowdowns during the month. The lowest rate was recorded in Central Visayas at 2.9 percent while Cagayan Valley posted the highest rate at 2.6 percent. In MM, the price of rice increased to 0.1 percent from -0.1 percent last month.

> Prices of corn rose to 4.0 percent in the Philippines and 4.2 percent in AOMM in February from 2.5 percent in January. However, in MM, it declined to 8.1 percent from zero growth last month.

> Prices of cereal preparations in MM increased to 4.3 percent from 3.1 percent as bread, native cakes and noodles were priced higher during the month. In AOMM, the rate slowed down to 0.4 percent from 0.6 percent.

> Prices of dairy products moved down to 0.3 percent in MM and 0.5 percent in AOMM from their respective rates of 0.9 percent and 1.1 percent.

> Prices of eggs were lower by 2.8 percentage points in the Philippines, 3.1 percentage points in MM, and 2.8 percentage points in AOMM.

> Slowdowns were similarly noted in the prices of fish as the rate in MM was 0.5 percent in February from 8.7 percent in January and in AOMM at 0.3 percent from 5.5 percent resulting in a 5.8 percentage points decrease for the Philippines.

> Increased production of fruits and vegetables because of improved weather condition caused the index to decline by 5.5 percent in the Philippines, 9.2 percent in MM and 4.1 percent in AOMM.

> In MM, prices of chicken went down due to increased supplies from importation. This brought down the meat index to 1.9 percent in MM and 0.6 percent in the Philippines.

> The miscellaneous foods index continued to decline in AOMM as prices of sugar, cooking oil and spices went down during the month. However, the rate in MM was higher at 0.5 percent, higher than the 1.9 percent posted last month.

> The national index for meals eaten outside remained at the previous month level of 0.1 percent.

èThe H&R indices for the whole country, MM and AOMM increased correspondingly by 0.9 percent, 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent. These were slower than their January rates of 2.2 percent, 1.1 percent and 3.0 percent respectively. This was brought about by higher rental rates and increase in the prices of construction materials like common wire nails, G.I. sheet, plywood, gravel and paint.

è The MM index for services went up to 0.7 percent from 0.3 percent last month while AOMM registered a 0.8 percent increase, which was slower than 2.3 percent in January. This resulted to a 0.8 percent increase in the national index, lower than 1.4 percent last month. This was effected by the increases in the prices of medicines and cassette tape during the month along with higher medical charges, movie and cockfight admission fees and postage.

è The clothing index for MM decreased by 0.7 percent while that of AOMM increased by 0.7 percent causing the national index to increase by 0.4 percent, slower than its January rate of 2.4 percent.

è Increases in the prices of some items for personal care and effects like powder, deodorant, toothpaste, lipstick, wrist watch and shoulder bag along with the mark-ups in the prices of gas stove, floor wax, and fluorescent bulb caused the miscellaneous items index in the Philippines and AOMM to increase by 0.3 percent and in MM by 0.2 percent.

è The FLW index in AOMM increased to 0.6 percent from zero growth while in MM the index slid down to 0.6 percent from 0.2 percent resulting in a 0.2 percent increase at the national level. This was brought about by the increase in the prices of firewood, charcoal, LPG and kerosene in many regions.

l By Region, Month-on-Month

è Prices in Metro Manila decreased to 0.3 percent in February from 1.7 percent in January. Lower rates were noted in the price index differences of FBT, 4.3 percentage points; clothing, 4.1 percentage points; H&R, 0.6 percentage point; and FLW, 0.4 percentage point. Services and miscellaneous items were correspondingly higher by 1.0 percentage point and 0.1 percentage point.

è In AOMM, prices slowed down to 0.2 percent in February from 2.3 percent last month. All the commodity groups recorded lower month-on-month rates except for FLW whose rate was higher by 0.6 percentage point. FBT inflation was lower by 2.7 percentage points; H&R, 1.8 percentage points; services, 1.5 percentage points; clothing and miscellaneous items, 1.3 percentage points. The lowest rate was recorded in Central Luzon at 0.4 percent while the highest rate was registered in Northern Mindanao at 1.1 percent.

Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines

Page Last Updated: March 5, 1999