MARCH AND FEBRUARY 2013

Year-on-year headline inflation in the Philippines decelerated to 3.2 percent in March from 3.4 percent in February. The indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; transport; and communication posted slower annual increments during the month. Inflation in March 2012 was 2.6 percent.

Excluding selected food and energy items, annual core inflation remained at its February rate of 3.8 percent.

Annual inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) likewise slowed down to 1.9 percent in March from 2.3 percent in February. This can be attributed to the slower annual increases in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages; clothing and footwear; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; and communication. The negative annual adjustment in the transport index also contributed to the downtrend.

The annual inflation rate in Areas Outside NCR (AONCR) improved to 3.6 percent in March from 3.7 percent in February. Slower annual increments were noted in the indices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; transport; and communication.

Year-on-Year Inflation Rates in the Philippines, All Items January 2008 - March 2013 (2006=100)
Month	Year
	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
January	4.6	7.1	3.9	4.0	4.0	3.0
February	5.1	7.2	3.9	4.7	2.7	3.4
March	5.9r	6.7	3.9	4.9	2.6	3.2
April	7.3	5.6	4.0	4.7	3.0
May	8.2	4.3	3.9	4.9	2.9
June	9.4	3.2	3.6	5.2	2.8
July	10.2	2.2	3.7r	4.9	3.2
August	10.5	1.7	4.1	4.6	3.8
September	10.1	2.3	3.8	4.7	3.6
October	9.7	2.9	3.3	5.2	3.1
November	9.1	3.5	3.7	4.7	2.8
December	7.8	4.4	3.6	4.2	2.9
Average	8.3	4.2r	3.8r	4.6	3.2

• The month-on-month inflation at the national level eased to 0.1 percent in March from 0.3 percent in February. It resulted from the declines in the prices of food items such as rice, corn, meat, fish, cooking oil, fruits, vegetables and selected condiments and seasonings and price reductions in gasoline, diesel and auto gas in NCR. Contributing also to the downtrend was the slower monthly upward adjustments in the prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco in all the regions.

  ---

  CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
  (2006=100)

  MARCH 2013

By Region, Year-on-Year

• The annual inflation in NCR moved at a slower pace at 1.9 percent in March from 2.3 percent in February.

• Similarly, annual inflation in AONCR slipped to 3.6 percent in March from 3.7 percent in February. Eight regions posted slower annual rates with the biggest deceleration of 0.8 percentage point noted in MIMAROPA (2.9% from 3.7%). The lowest annual rate remained in Ilocos region at 1.8 percent while the highest rate at 7.1 percent was still recorded in Central Visayas.

By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

• The annual mark-up in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages index at the national level decelerated to 2.8 percent in March from 2.9 percent in February; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index, 2.1 percent from 2.6 percent; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index, 4.7 percent from 5.0 percent; and transport and communication indices, 0.5 percent from 1.0 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. The rest of the commodity groups have higher annual increments with the indices of health and education retaining their respective last month’s annual rates of 3.2 percent and 4.4 percent.

  The annual inflation rate for food alone index in the Philippines slowed to 2.8 percent in March from 3.0 percent in February.

  An annual decrease of 5.9 percent was still posted in oils and fats index. In addition, slower annual growths were observed in all the other food groups except in the indices of vegetables; sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery; and food products not elsewhere classified.

• In NCR, annual rate in the transport index further dropped by 1.4 percent in March from -0.3 percent in February. Moreover, a lower annual hike was observed in food and non-alcoholic beverages index at 2.3 percent from 3.1 percent; clothing and footwear index, 6.4 percent from 6.6 percent; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index, 7.0 percent from 7.2 percent; and communication index, 0.8 percent from 0.9 percent. Annual mark-ups in the other groups were either higher or remained at their previous month’s rate.

  • The annual inflation for food alone index in NCR eased to 2.3 percent in March from 3.1 percent in February.

  • All the food groups either have slower annual growth rates or annual decline except for the indices of fruit, vegetables, and sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery. The annual change in the fruit index picked up 4.5 percent from 4.4 percent; vegetable index, 1.4 percent from 1.0 percent; and sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery index, 7.1 percent from 5.8 percent.

• In AONCR, the annual increment in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels index slowed to 2.7 percent in March from 3.5 percent in February; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index, 4.0 percent from 4.2 percent; transport index, 1.0 percent from 1.3 percent; and communication index, 0.3 percent from 0.4 percent. Higher annual increases were recorded in rest of the commodity groups with the indices for food and non-alcoholic beverages, health and education retaining their respective last month’s rate.

  • The food alone index in AONCR went up 2.9 percent in March, the same rate posted in February.

  • The annual growth in milk, cheese and egg index rose 2.7 percent in March from 2.6 percent in February; vegetable index, 3.5 percent from 1.5 percent; and food products not elsewhere classified index, 3.2 percent from 3.0 percent.

  • The annual uptick in the rice index in AONCR improved to 1.6 percent in March from 1.8 percent in February. Eight regions have slower annual rates with the biggest slowdown of 1.6 percentage points recorded in Davao region (1.5% from 3.1%).

  • Annual add-ons moved slower in the rest of the food groups with the oils and fats index still on the decline with its annual rate posted at -5.4 percent from -5.3 percent.

By Region, Month-on-Month

By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

• Prices of consumer items at the national level moved up at a slower pace of 0.1 percent in March from 0.3 percent in February. The index for food and non-alcoholic beverages went down by 0.1 percent in March from its February growth rate of 0.1 percent. In addition, the monthly hike in alcoholic beverages and tobacco index improved to 2.4 percent from a double-digit growth of 10.6 percent. The rest of the commodity groups have either higher monthly upticks or retained their respective last month’s rate with the indices for transport, communication and education recording a zero growth.

  • The favorable weather condition that prevailed in production areas in Luzon for the last two months boosted harvests of vegetables which brought abundant supplies in the markets. Hence, the vegetables index in the Philippines and NCR continued to post negative monthly rates of -1.1 percent from their corresponding last month’s rates of -0.8 percent and -6.8 percent. The vegetables index in AONCR likewise decreased by 1.0 percent from 0.2 percent.

  • With the continued price reductions of cooking oil in many regions, the index for oils and fats in the Philippines dropped by 0.2 percent; NCR, -0.1 percent; and AONCR, -0.3 percent.

  • The fruit index in the Philippines and AONCR declined by 0.1 percent and NCR, -0.4 percent due to sufficient deliveries of in-season fruits in the markets.

  • Prices of corn in selected regions generally went down during the month. Thus, the corn index in the Philippines and AONCR fell by 0.1 percent and NCR, -0.4 percent.

  • Price reductions in selected fish species resulted to the negative rates of the group’s index in the three areas: Philippines, -0.5 percent from 0.4 percent; NCR, -3.3 percent from 1.3 percent; and AONCR, -0.1 percent from 0.3 percent. This was due to the continued peak fishing season of tuna and the good catch of fishermen brought about by the prevalence of good weather conditions that cut down prices of fresh fish, shrimps, crabs and shells in the wet markets during the month.

  • A 0.1 percent uptick was noted in the index for rice for the Philippines and AONCR. The biggest leap of 0.4 percent was seen in ARMM. On the contrary, the group’s index in NCR decreased by 0.3 percent during the month.

• Prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco in the three areas continued to move up at a slower rate. Thus, the group’s index at the national level slowed to 2.4 percent in March from 10.6 percent in February; NCR, 1.0 percent from 4.0 percent; and AONCR, 2.6 percent from 11.8 percent.

• The 0.1 percent gain in the index for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels in the Philippines and AONCR and 0.2 percent in NCR was brought about by the increases in the prices of selected materials for the maintenance and repair of the dwelling units. Higher rental rates for housing units were also noticed in selected regions.

• Upward price adjustments in selected meals eaten outside the home together with price hikes in some items for personal care and effects pushed up the index for restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services in the Philippines by 0.3 percent; NCR, 0.2 percent; AONCR, 0.4 percent.

• With price mark-ups in clothing and footwear items and higher charges for sewing services for clothing, the index for clothing and footwear in the Philippines grew by 0.3 percent; NCR, 0.1 percent; and AONCR, 0.4 percent.

• Higher air transport fares and general price add-ons in gasoline and diesel in selected regions effected the 0.2 percent uptick in the transport index in AONCR during the month. On the contrary, the group’s index in NCR dropped by 0.3 percent due to the general price rollbacks in gasoline, diesel and auto gas. These offsetting price trends resulted to a zero growth in the transport index at the national level.

NOTES

1. The following survey reports were not received as of April 4, 2013:

• Lanao del Sur - first and second phase;
• Tawi-tawi - first and second phase.

2. CPIs and inflation rates by province and selected city are also available upon request at NSO, Industry and Trade Statistics Department, Economic and Indicators Division (Telephone Numbers: 716-39-35 and 715-33-47).

(Sgd.) CARMELITA N. ERICTA
Administrator