CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (1994=100)
SEPTEMBER 1999

l By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

è The rates for food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) increased to 3.6 percent in September from 3.4 percent in August; and fuel, light and water (FLW), to 8.0 percent from 5.9 percent. Clothing slowed down to 5.0 percent from 5.5 percent while housing and repairs (H&R), services and miscellaneous items remained at their corresponding rates of 9.0 percent, 10.3 percent and 4.2 percent last month.

> The inflation rate for food alone ticked up to 3.3 percent in September from 3.2 percent in August due to higher rates in the prices of fish, 8.6 percent from 7.5 percent; and fruits and vegetables, 10.8 percent from 4.3 percent. Prices of corn also went up, 0.6 percent from 4.4 percent; and cereal preparations, 3.5 percent from 3.3 percent;. However, lower rates were recorded in the prices of meat, 1.8 percent from 1.9 percent; rice, 1.0 percent from 2.9 percent; dairy products, 2.8 percent from 3.1 percent; and eggs, 4.0 percent from 4.9 percent; while miscellaneous foods declined to -0.1 percent from 1.4 percent.

è In Metro Manila (MM), the rates for FBT moved up by 0.4 percentage point; services, 0.2 percentage point; H&R, 0.3 percentage point; FLW, 1.9 percentage points; and miscellaneous items, 0.5 percentage point. In contrast, the rate for clothing was down by 0.9 percentage point.

> The inflation rate for food alone in MM rose to 2.4 percent in September from 1.9 percent in August. Higher rates were registered in the prices of cereal preparations, 2.3 percent from 2.0 percent; dairy products, 3.3 percent from 3.2 percent; fish, 3.3 percent from 0.2 percent; and fruits and vegetables, 21.9 percent from 18.7 percent. However, lower rates were posted in the prices of rice, -0.7 percent from 0.5 percent; corn, 8.5 percent from 12.4 percent; eggs, -0.7 percent from 0.5 percent; meat, -1.5 percent from 1.3 percent; and miscellaneous foods, -2.5 percent from -1.5 percent.

è For areas outside Metro Manila (AOMM), the rates for FBT and FLW correspondingly increased by 0.1 percentage point and 2.2 percentage points. On the other hand, the rates for clothing were lower by 0.4 percentage point; H&R, 0.3 percentage point; services, 0.1 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 0.2 percentage point.

> The inflation rate for food alone went a notch up to 3.7 percent in September from 3.6 percent in August.

> The inflation rate for rice slowed down to 1.2 percent from 3.4 percent last month. Except for Central Visayas, all other regions posted lower rates. The biggest decline was 4.6 percentage points in Western Mindanao.

> Inflation rates for corn increased to 0.5 percent from 4.7 percent; fish, 9.8 percent from 9.3 percent; and fruits and vegetables, 7.4 percent from 0.1 percent. Lower rates were recorded in the prices of dairy products, 2.7 percent from 3.2 percent; eggs, 5.6 percent from 6.7 percent; meat, 3.2 percent from 3.3 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 0.9 percent from 2.6 percent.

> The rate for cereal preparations remained at 3.9 percent.

l By Region, Year-on-Year

è The inflation rate for Metro Manila rose to 4.7 percent in September from 4.2 percent in August.

è Inflation in AOMM remained at 6.0 percent. Ten regions posted higher rates. The biggest increment was noted in Central Visayas at 0.7 percentage point followed by ARMM at 0.6 percentage point. Southern Mindanao still posted the lowest inflation rate at 3.1 percent while Central Visayas had the highest rate at 8.0 percent.

l By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

è Month-on-month inflation rates for FBT and services both went up by 0.2 percentage point; FLW, 1.9 percentage points; and miscellaneous items, 0.1 percentage point. Inflation in H&R decreased by 0.2 percentage point while that in clothing remained at 0.2 percent.

> Unfavorable weather conditions resulted to a significant increase in the prices of fruits and vegetables in many regions during the month. This brought about a 3.7 percent increment in AOMM. In MM, the index also went up to 2.3 percent, though slower than the 8.7 percent a month earlier. This caused the national index to increase by 3.3 percent.

> Similarly, continued unfavorable weather conditions caused fish prices in MM to increase by 3.1 percent from 2.3 percent in August. This pulled up the national index by 1.0 percent even as fish prices in AOMM slowed down to 0.5 percent from 0.8 percent last month.

> Prices of cereal preparations went up to 0.5 percent from 0.1 percent in August as prices of flour, bread, biscuits and noodles increased in MM and in many regions.

> Prices of corn rose to 0.9 percent from -1.0 percent due to the increase in AOMM in September from 1.2 percent in August. However, in MM, it significantly decreased by -0.3 percent from 11.8 percent last month.

> In AOMM, prices of eggs went up by 0.2 percent this month from zero growth last month while in MM, it fell by 0.2 percent as in August. This caused the national index to increase by 0.2 percent from 0.5 percent last month.

> The price of rice continued to remain stable with zero growth this month due to the sufficient supply of rice. Declines were still registered in seven regions. The lowest rate was posted in Ilocos and Western Visayas at 0.5 percent while Central Visayas recorded the highest rate at 1.0 percent.

> Prices of dairy products in MM increased to 0.2 percent in September as milk and ice cream were priced higher during the month. In AOMM, the index decreased by 0.1 percent from the increase of 0.1 percent in August. This resulted to zero growth at the national level.

> Lower prices of chicken in many regions pulled down the meat index in AOMM by 0.2 percent in September. On the other hand, prices of beef and chicken in MM increased which pushed up the meat index by 0.3 percent from 0.9 percent last month. However, the index posted a zero growth overall.

> Continued decrease in the prices of sugar, garlic, ginger and calamansi in most of the regions resulted to a 0.3 percent decline for the miscellaneous foods index in AOMM. Likewise, the MM index registered a 0.2 percent decline, which was the same rate posted in August.

> Prices of meals eaten outside the house increased by 0.2 percent in the Philippines with the 0.3 percent increase in AOMM and the zero growth in MM.

è Higher rental rates and increases in the prices of some construction materials like cement, sand, gravel and lumber caused the H&R index to increase: 0.2 percent in AOMM; and 0.4 percent in MM. The said rates combined into a 0.2 percent increase overall which was lower than the August rate of 0.4 percent.

è Services posted an increase of 0.4 percent. This was influenced by the increases in the prices of gasoline, diesel, lubricating oil, engine oil and medicines along with higher hospital and medical charges.

è The FLW index significantly increased to 2.4 percent in September from 0.5 percent last month. This was brought about by the increases in the prices of LPG, kerosene, charcoal and firewood in most of the regions including MM along with higher rate for electricity consumption in some regions. Higher currency exchange rate adjustment (CERA) and purchased power adjustment (PPA) for electricity in Metro Manila also contributed to the increase.

è The MM index for miscellaneous items went up by 0.2 percent from 0.3 percent in August while AOMM recorded an increase of 0.4 percent. This resulted to a 0.3 percent increase at the national level brought about by the mark-ups in the prices of items for personal care like bath soap, shampoo, and sanitary napkins together with some items for household operations like laundry soap, detergent bar, floor wax and cleanser.

è The clothing indices went up by 0.2 percent in September. This was mainly due to the increase in the prices of footwear and ready-made apparel like T-shirts, underwear and pants.

l By Region, Month-on-Month

è Prices in Metro Manila increased to 0.7 percent in September from 0.4 percent in August. Inflation in FBT increased to 0.8 percent from 0.5 percent in August; clothing, 0.2 percent from zero; H&R, 0.4 percent from 0.2 percent; FLW, 2.5 percent from 0.8 percent; and services, 0.4 percent from 0.3 percent. A lower rate was noted in the prices of miscellaneous items, 0.2 percent this month from 0.3 percent last month.

è In AOMM, prices rose to 0.5 percent in September from 0.3 percent in August. FBT inflation in September was higher at 0.5 percent from 0.2 percent a month ago; FLW, 2.3 percent from 0.5 percent; and services and miscellaneous items, 0.4 percent from 0.2 percent. Clothing and H&R also increased but at a slower rate of 0.2 percent from their corresponding August rates of 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent. Ten regions posted higher rates in September with the highest rate recorded in CAR at 1.1 percent while the lowest rate was registered in Central Mindanao at 0.1 percent.

Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines

Page Last Updated: October 5, 1999