* lowest since the 5.5% inflation rate in August 1997.
** highest since the 2.1% inflation rate in January 1999.

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (1994=100)
JUNE 1999

lBy Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

è The rates for food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) slowed down to 3.5 percent in June from 5.7 percent in May; clothing, 6.0 percent from 6.7 percent; and miscellaneous items, 4.8 percent from 5.3 percent. On the other hand, the rates increased for housing and repairs (HR), 9.6 percent in June from 8.9 percent in May; fuel, light and water (FLW), 5.6 percent from 5.4 percent; and services, 11.0 percent from 9.1 percent.

> The inflation rate for food alone was 3.3 percent in June from 5.7 percent in May. Lower rates were posted in the prices of rice, 3.6 percent from 5.9 percent; cereal preparations, 4.5 percent from 5.0 percent; dairy products, 3.4 percent from 4.1 percent; eggs, 10.8 percent from 14.5 percent; fruits and vegetables, -0.7 percent from 8.1 percent; meat, 1.1 percent from 2.7 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 4.4 percent from 6.1 percent. The price of corn was still on the decline although the -2.4 percent in June was smaller compared to -3.1 percent in May. Meanwhile, the price of fish remained at its May rate of 6.2 percent.

è In Metro Manila (MM), the rates for FBT declined by 1.2 percentage points; clothing, 0.9 percentage point; FLW, 0.3 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 1.3 percentage points. However, the rates for HR and services were correspondingly higher by 0.3 percentage point and 2.6 percentage points.

> The inflation rate for food alone in MM recorded a zero growth in June from 1.3 percent in May. Lower rates were registered in the prices of corn, 1.7 percent from 34.4 percent; cereal preparations, 3.1 percent from 4.2 percent; dairy products, 2.9 percent from 3.3 percent; eggs, 11.6 percent from 24.5 percent; fruits and vegetables, 0.7 percent from 10.4 percent; meat, -3.4 percent from -3.3 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 0.2 percent from 0.6 percent. Rice in June dipped by -0.3 percent compared to -1.0 percent in May.

è For areas outside Metro Manila (AOMM), the rates for FBT in June decreased by 2.4 percentage points; clothing, 0.7 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 0.3 percentage point. The rates for HR increased by 1.0 percentage point; FLW, 0.3 percentage point; and services, 1.4 percentage points.

> The inflation rate for food alone went down to 4.4 percent in June from 7.0 percent in May.

> The inflation rate for rice slowed down to 4.2 percent in June from 7.0 percent in May. All the regions posted lower rates during the month except for minimal growths in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Northern Mindanao. The biggest decrease was 6.7 percentage points in Eastern Visayas.

> Inflation rates for cereal preparations slowed down to 5.0 percent from 5.3 percent; dairy products, 3.6 percent from 4.4 percent; eggs, 10.5 percent from 11.6 percent; fish, 8.0 percent from 8.6 percent; fruits and vegetables, -1.2 percent from 7.3 percent; meat, 3.3 percent from 5.7 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 6.3 percent from 8.5 percent. The price of corn decreased by -2.5 percent from -3.8 percent in May.

lBy Region, Year-on-Year

è The inflation rate for Metro Manila decelerated to 3.9 percent in June from 4.1 percent in May.

è Inflation in AOMM moved down to 6.5 percent from 7.7 percent last month. Except for CAR and Western Mindanao where inflation rates were correspondingly higher by 0.1 percentage point and 0.3 percentage point and for Northern Mindanao retaining its rate of the previous month, all the other regions recorded lower inflation rates. The biggest decline was in Eastern Visayas at 2.5 percentage points followed by Central Luzon at 2.2 percentage points. Southern Mindanao posted the lowest inflation rate at 1.7 percent while Cagayan Valley still recorded the highest rate at 10.1 percent.

lBy Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

è Month-on-month inflation rates for all commodity groups were higher in June except for FLW which remained at 0.5 percent. FBT and clothing went up by 0.1 percentage point; HR, 1.3 percentage points; services, 4.7 percentage points; and miscellaneous items, 0.2 percentage point.

> The price of rice went up to 0.1 percent in June from -0.2 percent in May. Higher month-on-month rates were recorded in eleven regions including Metro Manila. The highest rate was observed in Western Mindanao at 1.2 percent while Eastern Visayas registered the lowest rate at -1.6 percent.

> A bumper harvest in some regions caused their respective corn price indices to decline. In MM, it decreased by 23.1 percent from a 17.5 percent increase last month. Meanwhile, the AOMM index posted an increase of 1.9 percent from 1.2 percent in May. This caused the national index for corn to slow down to 1.3 percent in June from 1.6 percent in May.

> Prices of cereal preparations went down to -0.1 percent in June from 0.1 percent a month earlier as prices of flour, bread, and biscuit decreased in Metro Manila.

> Prices of dairy products in AOMM posted a zero growth while in MM, the index increased to 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent last month. This raised the national index by 0.1 percent.

> Prices of eggs continued to decline, -1.3 percent in MM and -0.2 percent in AOMM resulting in -0.5 percent overall.

> Fish prices in MM and AOMM correspondingly went up by 1.5 percent and 0.5 percent in June from -8.1 percent and 0.1 percent last month. This pulled up the national index to 0.7 percent from -1.6 percent in May.

> Except for ARMM whose fruits and vegetables index increased, all other regions including MM posted decreases. This resulted in a 2.4 percent decrease in the national index for fruits and vegetables due to continued good production.

> Higher prices of chicken and pork caused the meat index to increase but at lower rates of 0.2 percent in MM from the May rate of 0.3 percent and of 0.1 percent in AOMM from 0.5 percent. This slowed down to 0.2 percent for the Philippines from the May rate of 0.4 percent.

> In AOMM, sugar, garlic, calamansi, ginger, and salt were priced lower during the month resulting to a 0.1 decrease in the national level and AOMM. On the other hand, the rate in MM was-0.2 percent, which was the same rate posted last month.

> The prices of meals eaten outside in AOMM increased to 0.4 percent from 0.2 percent in May while MM posted a zero growth, giving a 0.2 percent increase overall which was the same rate posted last month.

è Services increased by 5.2 percent in MM and 4.9 percent in AOMM resulting in a 5.1 percent increase in the national level. This was brought about by hikes in tuition fees and higher prices of school supplies such as notebooks, pad papers and textbooks along with the increases in the prices of gasoline and medicines.

è Higher rental rates and increase in the prices of some construction materials like cement, gravel, sand, plywood and paint raised the HR index to increase at the national level and AOMM by 1.6 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. These were higher than their May rates of 0.3 percent, which was the same MM rate for May and June.

è The FLW index retained its May inflation rate of 0.5 percent. The increase was brought about by higher prices of firewood, kerosene, charcoal and LPG in many regions including Metro Manila.

è The MM index for miscellaneous items went up by 0.3 percent and in AOMM, by 0.2 percent resulting in a 0.2 percent overall increase.

è The clothing index for MM increased to 0.5 percent from zero growth in May while that for AOMM moved at the same 0.2 percent of the previous month. This turned up into a 0.2 percent increase overall. These were brought about by the increase in the prices of footwear and ready-made apparel along with higher sewing charge in many regions.

lBy Region, Month-on-Month

è Prices in Metro Manila went up to 0.8 percent in June from -0.1 percent in May. Higher rates were noted in the prices of FBT, 0.5 percentage point; clothing, 0.5 percentage point; services, 4.4 percentage points; and miscellaneous items, 0.9 percentage point. However, the rate for FLW decreased by 0.4 percentage point while that for HR was the same 0.3 percent of the previous month.

è In AOMM, prices rose to 1.0 percent in June from 0.1 percent in May. HR was higher by 2.2 percentage points; FLW, 0.1 percentage point; and services, 4.6 percentage points. Clothing and miscellaneous items remained at their May rates of 0.2 percent. All the regions posted higher rates in June with the highest rate recorded in Cagayan Valley and Southern Tagalog at 1.6 percent while the lowest rate was recorded in CARAGA at 0.1 percent.

Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines

Page Last Updated: July 5, 1999