GUIMARAS – The slower price movement on food and non-alcoholic beverages with 6.5 percent inflation pushed the overall inflation for the bottom 30 percent income households (HHs) in Guimaras to 4.5 percent in June 2023 from 5.5 percent in May 2023.
Generated data of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the Retail Price Survey (RPS) of Commodities conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the 6.5 percent inflation on food and non-alcoholic beverages largely contributed to the slower June Inflation for the bottom 30 percent income households by 85.6 percent.
This was followed by alcoholic beverages and tobacco with 12.4 percent inflation, chipping in 10.1 percent, and restaurants and accommodation Services with 11.4 percent inflation contributing 8.6 percent, said Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare.
The slower inflation of food and non-alcoholic beverages was mainly due to the price deceleration of the food groups, specifically on rice with 8.6 percent inflation; vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses with 19.8 percent inflation; and sugar, confectionery and desserts with 39.5 percent inflation, contributing 48.7, 18.4 and 12.1 percent, respectively.
Other commodities that have a significant contribution to the food inflation in June 2023 were: milk, other dairy products and eggs, with 11.1 inflation chipping in 9.3%; flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, with 6.2% inflation contributing 6.0% to the food inflation trend; fruits and nuts with 12.2% inflation, also contributed 6.0 percent; and oils and fats with 20.8% inflation donating 4.2% to food inflation trend.
“Overall, the food inflation for low-income households in June moved slower to 6.7 percent from 7.9 percent a month ago, and a decrement of 1.4 percentage points from food inflation in June 2022 with 8.1 percent, while the non-alcoholic beverages retained its previous month’s 3.6 inflation,” Losare said.
Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services with 12.9 percent inflation also contributed 7.8 percent to the overall inflation of 30 percent income households in June 2023.
Other non-food commodities which contributed less than 1.0 percent were: recreation, sport, and culture (5.5%) inflation shared 0.8 percent; furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (1.6%), chipping in 0.8 percent; and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.2%); and information and communication (1.0%) giving out 0.5 and 0.4 percent to the overall inflation for low-income households, respectively.
The inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent income households in June 2023 implied that the average price changes of consumer goods and services moved slower to 4.5 percent from 5.5 percent in May 2023.
Based on the relative poverty concept, Losare said households whose per capita income falls below the bottom 30 percent of the cumulative per capita distribution belong to the low-income group.
“The inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent income households, who are the most vulnerable to economic and social difficulties, was computed to monitor their welfare,” Losare said. (PSA)/PN
