JORDAN, Guimaras – Inflation in the island province of Guimaras escalated to 4.2 percent in July, from a declined 3.4 inflation rate in June, led by higher food cost, according to the Retail Prices Survey (RPS) conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Inflation shows an unpredictable trend from the start of the year to April, before it dropped to June by 1.3 percentage points recording a 3.4 percent inflation.
“The rate of change in the Consumer Price Index rose to 4.2 percent in July after two months of decreasing trend, moving faster than its previous month’s annual rate of change at 3.4 percent and a bit faster relative to its 3.5 percent rate in July 2020,” said Provincial Statistical Officer Nelida Losare.
Losare elaborated further that the price hikes in the annual rate of change in the three commodity groups pushed inflation to escalate in July of the current year, namely:
* Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco – 16.4 percent inflation or an increment of 2.5 percentage points
* Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services – 12.1 percent, higher by 1.9 percentage points
* Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages – 1.8 percent inflation or an increment of 1.3 percentage points
The inflation of alcoholic beverages at 20.4 percent and tobacco at 15.2 percent fueled inflation of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco to quicken at 16.4 percent, which is the fastest annual rate of the commodity for the year 2021, notably higher by more than twice its level in January of the current year recorded at 6.8 percent.
Higher prices in Catering Services (16.9 percent) also pushed the inflation of Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services to 12.1 percent, prices on Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages, however, was driven by the food commodity group with 1.76 percent inflation from a low of 0.5 percent a month ago.
Other commodity groups that contributed to the faster inflation rate for all items in July 2021 were:
* Recreation and Culture that increased by 0.9 percent from -1.9 percent in June 2021 to -1.0 percent in July 2021
* Health from 1.5 to 1.9 percent
* Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels from 0.2 to 0.5 percent
“On Recreation and Culture commodity group, faster price hikes were on Other Recreational Items and Equipment, Gardens and Pets (14.0 percent) with an increment of 8.5 percentage points from the previous month,” Losare said.
The 1.9 percent annual rate of change in the index of Health was mainly due to inflation hikes on Medical Products, Appliances, and Equipment (14.0 percent) which heightened to a 2.8 percent increment from the previous months’ annual rate of change.
Meanwhile, on the commodity of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels, monthly inflation hikes on Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels (5.9 percent) intensified by a 1.6 percent increment from the previous months’ annual rate of change.
Losare also said that the two commodity groups: Transport (7.1 percent) and Clothing and Footwear (2.9 percent) both posted a decrease of 0.7 percent each while inflation in Education (5.1 percent); Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House (4.5 percent); and Communication (0.1) remained constant and showed steady inflation from June 2021 to July 2021 with 1.8 percent inflation from a low of 0.5 percent a month ago.
Guimaras’ year-on-year inflation rate marked up to 4.2 percent in July 2021, the fastest inflation since 2017.
July inflation of Guimaras for eight consecutive years (2013-2021) unpredictably moved, from a price hike of 2.4 percent in July 2013, the inflation rate eased to 2.0 percent in 2015. However, it soared to 4.6 percent in 2016, the highest inflation level in 9 comparative years, then consistently dropped to 0.0 percent in 2018./PN
