January 2009

• Month-on-Month

  The month-on-month growth rate of the General Retail Price Index (GRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) went up to 0.9 percent in January from -0.7 percent in December. Prices of the heavily weighted food index increased by 0.6 percentage points to 1.5 percent in January from 0.9 percent in December. Moreover, prices of chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats also went up to 0.1 percent from -0.1 percent. On the other hand, no price movements were seen in the rest of the commodity groups while miscellaneous manufactured group index eased to 0.1 percent from 1.3 percent. The index of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials still recorded a negative rate of -0.5 percent.

  Upward price adjustments were noted in selected foods items such as beef, pork, canned meat, cheese, butter, fish, rice and corn. Add-ons were also observed in paints and sand paper.
  

• Year-on-Year

  On an annual basis, the growth rate of the GRPI in NCR picked-up to 4.7 percent in January from 3.9 percent in December. Except for the food index whose annual price adjustment was higher at 8.1 percent from 6.4 percent, all the other commodity groups either posted negative or slower annual growth rates.

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  Source: National Statistics Office
  Manila, Philippines

  Page last revised: April 29, 2009