Year-on-year inflation decelerated to 6.7 percent in February from 6.9 percent in January due to the slowdown in inflation for food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) despite the acceleration in the other commodity groups. The February 2000 inflation was 3.0 percent.

Month-on-month inflation slowed to 0.2 percent in February from 0.8 percent in January due to lower rates in the prices of FBT particularly rice, corn, fish and fruits and vegetables.

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
(1994=100)
FEBRUARY 2001

> By Region, Year-on-Year

* The inflation rate for MM was 7.7 percent in February compared to 7.8 percent in January.

* Inflation in AOMM at 6.3 percent in February was slower than the 6.5 percent in January. Thirteen regions posted lower inflation rates. The biggest decrease was recorded in Northern Mindanao at 1.5 percentage points followed by ARMM at 1.3 percentage points. The lowest rate was registered in Eastern Visayas and Central Mindanao at 4.3 percent while the highest rate was observed in Central Visayas at 8.7 percent.

> By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

Among the commodity groups, only FBT slowed down, to 4.3 percent in February from 5.2 percent in January. The rates for clothing picked up to 3.8 percent in February from 3.7 percent in January; housing and repairs (H&R), 6.4 percent from 5.6 percent; fuel, light and water (FLW), 13.7 percent from 12.5 percent; services, 14.1 percent from 13.6 percent; and miscellaneous items, 7.1 percent from 6.8 percent.

>The inflation rate for food alone decelerated to 4.3 percent in February from 5.1 percent in January. The price of rice moved down to 2.8 percent from 3.9 percent; corn, 2.2 percent from 5.2 percent; fish, 3.0 percent from 6.4 percent; and fruits and vegetables, 7.6 percent from 10.4 percent. Faster rates were however, seen in the prices of cereal preparations, 5.6 percent from 5.4 percent; dairy products, 8.1 percent from 5.5 percent; meat, 5.5 percent from 4.8 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 3.2 percent from 2.7 percent. The price of eggs moved at its January rate of 1.5 percent.

In Metro Manila (MM), the inflation rate for FBT was slower by 0.1 percentage point. On the other hand, the rates for clothing increased by 0.2 percentage point; H&R, 0.9 percentage point; FLW, 3.4 percentage points; services, 1.3 percentage points; and miscellaneous items, 0.5 percentage point.

>The inflation rate for food alone in MM was 4.8 percent in February which was lower than the 6.6 percent registered in January. Lower rates were also seen in the prices of rice, 0.9 percent from 1.3 percent; corn, -11.7 percent from 3.7 percent; eggs, 8.2 percent from 8.7 percent; fish, -0.3 percent from 10.9 percent; and fruits and vegetables, 4.2 percent from 10.0 percent. Higher rates were posted in the prices of cereal preparations, 10.1 percent from 9.9 percent; dairy products, 10.0 percent from 7.4 percent; meat, 8.6 percent from 7.8 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 4.7 percent from 3.2 percent.

* For areas outside Metro Manila (AOMM), the rate for FBT decelerated to 4.1 percent in February from 4.7 percent in January. The rates for other commodity groups however went up: clothing and services, 0.1 percentage point; H&R, 0.7 percentage point; FLW, 0.2 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 0.3 percentage point.

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  • The inflation rate for food alone moved down to 4.1 percent in February from 4.7 percent in January.
  • The inflation rate for rice slowed to 3.1 percent in February from 4.3 percent last month. Except for Bicol and ARMM, all other regions posted lower rates. The biggest decline was in Northern Mindanao at 2.6 percentage points followed by CAR at 2.4 percentage points.
  • Slower rates were also posted in the prices of corn, 2.5 percent from 5.2 percent; fish, 3.9 percent from 5.3 percent; and fruits and vegetables, 8.7 percent from 10.6 percent.
  • The inflation rates for cereal preparations picked up to 4.0 percent in February from 3.7 percent the previous month; dairy products, 7.3 percent from 4.8 percent; eggs, -0.4 percent from -0.5 percent; meat, 4.2 percent from 3.6 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 2.6 percent from 2.5 percent.

> By Region, Month-on-Month

* Prices in MM slowed down to 0.3 percent from 0.9 percent in January. This was mainly brought about by the decline in food prices in the area of 1. 7 percent from an increase of 1.6 percent in January. A lower rate was also seen in clothing, 0.3 percent from 0.8 percent while miscellaneous items retained its January rate of 0.7 percent. Higher rates were however noted in H&R, 1.7 percent from 0.4 percent; FLW, 3.7 percent from -0.1 percent and services, 1.7 percent from 0.3 percent.

* Similarly, prices in AOMM slowed to 0.2 percent compared to 0.6 percent in January. Food prices recorded a 0.2 percent decrease from the 0.7 percent increase in January. Slower rates were also noticed in clothing, 0.3 percent from 0.4 percent and H&R, 0.9 percent from 1.1 percent. The other commodity groups recorded higher rates: FLW, 0.7 percent from 0.6 percent; services, 0.6 percent from 0.5 percent; and miscellaneous, 0.6 percent from 0.3 percent. Except for Southern Tagalog and Central Mindanao which retained their January rates, all the regions recorded lower rates with five regions having declines. The lowest rate was reported in Cagayan Valley at -0.4 percent while the highest was in Southern Tagalog at 0.7 percent.

> By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

* The decline in FBT prices of 0.5 percent mainly contributed to the slowdown in the inflation rate to 0.2 percent in February from 0.8 percent in January. The rate for clothing also decelerated to 0.3 percent from 0.4 percent. On the other hand, H&R went up to 1.2 percent from 0.8 percent; FLW, 1.7 percent from 0.4 percent; services, 0.9 percent from 0.4 percent; and miscellaneous items, 0.5 percent from 0.4 percent.

• The prevalence of favorable weather conditions throughout the country brought abundant supply of vegetables in MM and in many regions. The influx of deliveries of many tropical vegetables and some temperate vegetables brought about markdowns in their prices. The group index in MM continued to post decreases of -9.6 percent from -2.3 percent in January. In AOMM twelve of the fifteen regions registered rates that went to as low as -9.1 percent in Ilocos. In addition abundant supply of bananas and papayas and mangoes in markets including those in MM brought discounted prices for these fruits. Thus, the group index in the Philippines and AOMM dropped by 4.4 percent and 2.7 percent respectively.
• The good catch by fishermen due to good weather conditions supplied abundant fish in the markets. Indicator fish species were quoted lower in many regions during February. The index slid to -1.2 percent in the Philippines, -5.1 percent in MM and -0.2 percent in AOMM compared to their corresponding rates of 2.5 percent, 6.3 percent and 1.5 percent in January.
• The price of rice slightly went down to 0.4 percent brought about by the sporadic harvest season in some areas of the country.
• Lower chicken prices after the holiday season was observed in MM as the meat index in the area dipped to -0.9 percent. This mainly contributed to the zero growth in the national index for meat. In AOMM meat prices slightly increased to 0.4 percent due to higher prices of pork and beef.
• The price of dairy products significantly rose in most of the regions due to the higher importation price of raw materials for milk and milk products. The index moved up to 2.6 percent from 0.9 percent in the Philippines, 2.8 percent from 1.6 percent in MM and 2.4 percent from 0.6 percent in AOMM.
• Prices of miscellaneous foods in MM increased to 1.3 percent this month from 1.5 percent and in AOMM to 0.2 percent from zero growth a month earlier as prices of coffee, powdered tonic drink, sauces and seasonings continued to rise. This resulted to a 0.5 percent increase in the national index.

* Higher prices of selected construction materials like plywood, cement, gravel, paint, electrical materials and lumber in many regions along with a few increases in rental rates were noted. The H&R index moved up to 1.2 percent for the whole country, 1.7 percent in MM and 0.9 percent in AOMM from their corresponding January rates of 0.8 percent, 0.4 percent and 1.1 percent.

* The services index accelerated by 0.9 percent in the Philippines, 1.7 percent in MM and by 0.6 percent in AOMM. These were higher than their corresponding January rates of 0.4 percent, 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent. This was due to increases in the prices of medicines, hospital and dental charges and rates for personal, recreational and other services.

* The FLW index significantly rose to 1.7 percent in the Philippines and 3.7 percent in MM from their respective rates of 0.4 percent and -0.1 percent in January as the price of LPG went up in MM along with higher purchased power adjustment and currency exchange rate adjustment in the electric bill. In AOMM the index was up by 0.7 percent from 0.6 percent a month earlier due to the increase in prices of LPG, kerosene and rates for water and electricity. 

Results of the survey were not received from the following provinces: