• Year-on-year inflation rate went up to 3.0 percent in February 2000 from January's 2.6 percent. Inflation rate a year ago was 9.9 percent.
• Prices of services, housing and repairs, and fuel, light and water contributed to the pick-up in the inflation rate even as prices of selected food items such as rice, fruits and vegetables, sugar and cooking oil were lower compared to February last year.

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
(1994=100)
FEBRUARY 2000

> By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

* The rates for fuel, light and water (FLW) moved up to 9.0 percent in February from 8.4 percent in January; and food, beverages and tobacco (FBT), -0.2 percent from 1.0 percent. On the other hand, the rates for clothing slowed down to 2.4 percent from 2.7 percent; housing and repairs (H&R), 6.7 percent from 7.2 percent; services, 11.4 percent from 11.5 percent; and miscellaneous items, -0.4 percent from 0.3 percent.

>The inflation rate for food alone was 0.6 percent in February from 1.4 percent in January. Higher rates were posted in the prices of rice, -1.3 percent from -1.5 percent; fish, 5.8 percent from 4.0 percent; and fruits and vegetables, -10.6 percent from 13.9 percent. However, lower rates were recorded in the prices of corn, 12.0 percent from 14.2 percent; cereal preparations, 2.2 percent from 3.5 percent; dairy products, 1.4 percent from 1.7 percent; eggs, -2.0 percent from 1.4 percent; and meat, -0.7 percent from 0.6 percent. Prices of miscellaneous foods remained at its January rate of 0.5 percent.

* In Metro Manila (MM), except for miscellaneous items whose rate remained at 0.7 percent, all other commodity groups went up in February. The rates for FBT increased by 1.1 percentage points; clothing, 0.8 percentage point; H&R, 0.3 percentage point; FLW, 1.6 percentage points; and services, 0.2 percentage point.

>The inflation rate for food alone in MM moved at a faster rate of 2.2 percent in February from 3.3 percent in January. Higher rates were posted in the prices of rice, -0.1 percent from 0.3 percent; corn, 30.4 percent from 14.4 percent; fish, 4.6 percent from 0.4 percent; fruits and vegetables, -14.1 percent from 18.3 percent; and meat, -5.7 percent from 6.0 percent. Meanwhile, lower rates were registered in the prices of cereal preparations, 0.6 percent from 4.9 percent; eggs, -9.6 percent from 7.7 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 1.4 percent from 2.1 percent. The prices of dairy products remained at its January rate of 2.3 percent.

For areas outside Metro Manila (AOMM), the rates for FBT and FLW correspondingly increased by 0.6 percentage point and 0.3 percentage point. On the other hand, the rates for clothing were lower by 0.6 percentage point; H&R, 1.0 percentage point; and services, 0.2 percentage point. The rate for miscellaneous items remained at 0.3 percent.

• The inflation rate for food alone was 0.1 percent in February, higher than the 0.8 percent in January.
• The inflation rate for rice moved at a faster rate of 1.4 percent this month from 1.7 percent in January. Eight regions posted higher rates; the biggest increase was 4.5 percentage points in Central Visayas.
• The inflation rates for fish rose to 6.1 percent from 5.1 percent last month; fruits and vegetables, -9.4 percent from 12.3 percent; and miscellaneous foods, -1.2 percent from 1.6 percent. Lower rates were recorded in the prices of corn, 11.7 percent from 14.2 percent; dairy products, 1.0 percent from 1.4 percent; and meat, 1.5 percent from 1.9 percent. The inflation rates for cereal preparations and eggs remained at 2.9 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

> By Region, Year-on-Year

The inflation rate for Metro Manila rose to 2.8 percent in February from 2.0 percent in January.

Inflation in AOMM went up to 3.1 percent in February from 2.9 percent a month earlier. Nine regions posted higher inflation rates. The biggest increment was noted in ARMM at 1.4 percentage points followed by Eastern Visayas at 0.6 percentage point. ARMM still recorded the highest rate at 8.3 percent while the lowest remained in Ilocos at 0.1 percent.

> By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

• Month-on-month inflation rates for FBT decelerated to 0.3 percent in February from 0.9 percent in January; and H&R, 0.5 percent from 0.6 percent. On the other hand, inflation rates for FLW went up to 0.6 percent from 0.4 percent; services, 0.5 percent from 0.3 percent; and miscellaneous items, 0.3 percent from 2.9 percent. The clothing index increased by the same rate of 0.1 percent as in the previous month.
• The price of rice moved up to 0.7 percent in February from 0.4 percent the previous month. Higher month-on month rates were recorded in nine regions. The highest rate was registered in Central Visayas at 1.7 percent while ARMM posted the lowest rate at 0.3 percent.
• Prices of corn in MM and AOMM grew by 4.9 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively from their corresponding rates of 2.0 percent and zero growth last month. This resulted to a 2.0 percent increase in the Philippines from zero growth in January.
• Prices of cereal preparations in the Philippines and AOMM increased to 0.3 percent this month from 0.2 percent a month earlier as flour, bread, biscuits and noodles were priced higher during the month. In MM, prices remained stable as it posted a zero growth this month from 0.2 percent last month.
• Prices of dairy products in MM moved at its January rate of 0.3 percent as prices of milk, butter and cheese increased during the month. In AOMM, the index posted a zero growth from 0.3 percent. Thus, the index in the Philippines slowed down to 0.1 percent in February from 0.3 percent the previous month.
• Prices of eggs went down to -0.4 percent from 0.5 percent last month. In MM, these also slowed down from 0.5 percent to -1.6 percent.
• Fish prices in MM rose to 5.6 percent in February from 3.5 percent in January and in AOMM, 1.2 percent from 2.0 percent. This resulted to a 2.0 percent increase for the Philippines as supply was lower brought about by seasonal difficulty in catching fish during the colder months.
• Abundant supply of vegetables particularly those coming from the upland areas caused the index for fruits and vegetables to decline to -4.6 percent from 0.6 percent for MM; and 1.0 percent from 2.3 percent for AOMM. Lower prices of fruits like mangoes, papaya, pineapple, and banana also contributed to the decrease. Overall, the index declined by 1.9 percent from an increase of 1.6 percent in January.
• The meat index decreased by 1.7 percent in MM and 0.2 percent in AOMM due to lower prices of chicken and pork.
• Prices of miscellaneous foods in MM declined by 0.2 percent from 3.0 percent a month earlier as prices of sugar, ginger, calamansi and coconut were lower during the month. The index in AOMM moved at its January rate of 0.1 percent resulting to a zero growth in the national index from 0.9 percent last month.
• Prices of meals eaten outside in the Philippines and AOMM slowed down to 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively from their corresponding rates of 2.1 percent and 0.6 percent last month while MM posted a zero growth.

The FLW index increased to 0.6 percent in February from 0.4 percent in January. This was brought about by the increases in the prices of LPG, kerosene, and charcoal along with higher rates for electricity and water consumption in most of the regions. Higher prices of firewood, charcoal, LPG and kerosene together with higher purchased power adjustment (PPA) for electricity in MM also contributed to the increase.

The H&R indices for the whole country and AOMM increased to 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. These were slower than their January rates of 0.6 percent. In MM, the index moved at its previous month s rate of 0.8 percent. This was due to the increases in the prices of some construction materials like common wire nails, cement, hollow blocks, and insulated wire along with higher rental rates in many regions including MM.

The services indices for MM and AOMM increased by 0.5 percent from their corresponding January rates of 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent. Increases in the prices of gasoline, diesel, engine oil, and medicines along with higher charges for haircut, medical and dental services and higher movie admission fee contributed to the increase.

Prices of miscellaneous items went up to 0.2 percent from -3.2 percent in MM and 0.3 percent from 2.8 percent in AOMM. This resulted from the increases in the prices of selected household operations like detergent soap, laundry starch, floorwax, and battery along with some items for personal care and effects like shampoo, bath soap, sanitary napkins, toothpaste, toothbrush, shoe polish, and wristwatches. Overall, the prices moved up by 0.3 percent from a decline of 2.9 percent in January.

The clothing indices moved at the rate of 0.1 percent the previous month. Increases were brought about by higher prices of footwear and ready-made apparel like T-shirt, blouse, underwear, pants, and socks in many regions including MM.

> By Region, Month-on-Month

• Prices in MM moved at 0.3 percent in February, lower than 0.6 percent posted in January. The FBT rate was lower by 1.4 percentage points while clothing and H&R retained their January rates of 0.1 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. All other commodity groups recorded higher month-on-month rates. FLW was higher by 0.2 percentage point; services, 0.1 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 3.4 percentage points.
• SimiIarly, prices in AOMM slowed down to 0.3 percent in February from 0.5 percent in January. FBT and H&R were lower by 0.5 percentage point and 0.3 percentage point, respectively. On the other hand, the rates for FLW were higher by 0.4 percentage point; services, 0.2 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 3.1 percentage points. The clothing index remained at 0.1 percent. Among the regions, the general movement of prices was lowest in Cagayan Valley at 0.2 percent while the highest rate was registered in Northern Mindanao and ARMM at 1.3 percent.