GUIMARAS – The inflation rate in this island province subsided to 8.5 percent in August this year after five months of unstoppable acceleration, starting at 4.9 percent in March to 8.7 percent in July, revealing that August 2022 had the second highest inflation rate since August 2021.
“The data also showed that the 8.5 inflation rate in August was higher by 5.1 percentage points than the 3.4 percent in August 2021,” said Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida Losare, citing the generated data of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the Retail Price Survey (RPS) of Commodities conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Based on the CPI movements, the average inflation for January to August this year stood at 6.4 percent, higher than the 6.1 percent average last month.
The slower inflation in August was mainly due to the descending prices of some heavily weighted commodities (Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and other Fuels, 2.3 percent; Transport, 12.8 percent; and Health, 3.2 percent).
“The 2.3 percent inflation in the Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels, was mainly propelled by the Electricity from all sources (coal, solar, hydro, etc.) at 3.3 percent and Liquefied hydrocarbons (butane, propane, etc.) delivered in storage containers at 11.4 percent,” Losare said.
The inflation rate of the Transport Commodity group descended to 12.8 percent in August, down by 2.3 percentage points from the 15.1 percent in July 2022, due to the price decrement in Gasoline (ND) with 38.2 percent, Diesel (ND) with 78.5 percent, and Batteries with 1.8 percent.
“Likewise, the 3.2 percent August Health Commodity group inflation decreased by 0.9 percentage points compared to the 4.1 percent inflation in July 2022,” Losare said.
The slow prices of Private inpatient curative and rehabilitative services with 2.4 percent; Vitamins and minerals at 5.0 percent; and Medicines, branded and generic products, to treat illnesses, diseases, and injuries at 0.8 percent contributed to the decrease of Health Commodity, Losare added
Other commodities with downtrend inflation were Recreation, Sport, and Culture (17.3%); and Clothing and Footwear (3.0%), each shared 1.7 and 1.0 percent, respectively to the August 2022 inflation trend.
“Recreation, Sport, and Culture also slowed due to the decreasing price of other stationery and drawing materials at 37.8 percent, likewise, the 3.0 percent price dropped in Clothing and Footwear, was mainly driven by the sluggish prices of Garments for women or girls, Garments for men or boys, and Garments for infants (0 to under 2 years), which contributed a 0.5, 3.4, and 1.2 percent, respectively to the August 2022 Inflation,” Losare said.
In August 2022, there were five commodity items that managed to increase their inflation rates in comparison to the previous month:
* Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages from 11.8% to 12.1%
* Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco from 6.2% to 6.3%
* Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance from 4.6% to 5.2%
* Education Services from 14.8% to 16.1%
* Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services from 5.1% to 5.4%
Only the Commodity groups of Information and Communication, Restaurants and Accommodation Services, and Financial Services maintained their previous month’s inflation at -0.1, -0.1, and 0.0 percent, respectively.
The data showed that the 8.5 inflation rate in August 2022 was also considered the second fastest year-on-year rate recorded since 2019.
“The inflation rate in August 2022 implied that average price level of consumer goods and services increased to 8.5 percent from a low of 2.6 percent in August 2021,” said Losare.
“A CPI of 121.3 means that an average Guimarasnon household needs 21.3 pesos more in August 2022 to buy a basket of goods worth 100 pesos in 2018, and the CPI is used to compute the inflation rate for a given period,” Losare said.
Meanwhile, the average Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) in August 2022 is at 0.82, which is lower when compared to the previous year’s 0.89, illustrating that the purchasing power of the peso depreciated, thereby interpreting that the one peso in 2018, is now valued at 0.82 centavos.
“The PPP for August and July 2022 remained steady at 0.82,” Losare said. (PSA/PN)
