BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The overall inflation rate in this city has slowed down to -1.1 percent in January 2024 from -0.7 percent in December 2023, the Philippine Statistics Authority Region 6 (PSA-6) reported.
Nelida Amolar, PSA Regional Statistics Services 6 officer-in-charge, said Iloilo City posted the lowest monthly inflation in January 2024 among capital cities in Western Visayas.
Bacolod City in Negros Occidental posted a monthly inflation rate of 2.5 percent, from 4.0 percent in the preceding month.
Likewise, the agency identified the top three commodity groups that contributed to the low inflation rate in the city’s overall inflation rate of 1.1 percent in January 2024.
The first factor is food and nonalcoholic beverages with a 90.9 percent share or 2 percentage points.
The second is transportation, representing 8.5 percent share or -2.1 percentage point as one of the contributors.
Likewise, clothing and footwear with a .9 percent share or -28 percentage points ranked third in the commodity group as contributors to the headline inflation.
How does Iloilo City’s low inflation affect the average Ilonggo household?
Amolar stressed that low inflation can have direct effects on individuals and the economy of a region or city. These include stable prices, purchasing power, employment, and cost of borrowing, among others.
Amolar said that a low rate of inflation means the prices and services have been decreasing. Due to stable prices brought about by low inflation, consumers can plan and budget more efficiently.
Inflation refers to the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, leading to a decrease in purchasing power. Hence, a high inflation rate means that prices are rising rapidly.
Likewise, the overall inflation rate in Western Visayas slowed to 2 percent in January 2024. Amolar said the statistics showed the lowest inflation rate since the 1.3 percent inflation rate recorded in November 2019.
The inflation rate was recorded at 3.2 percent in December 2023, while it was 10.3 percent in January 2023.
The downtrend in the headline inflation in January 2024 was mainly due to the slower annual growth in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages with a 4.2 percent inflation rate in January 2024 from 7.0 percent in December 2023.
On the other hand, slower annual decreases were recorded in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, with -5.7 percent from -5.8 percent. Also, a faster annual increase was noted in the index of clothing and footwear with a 3.2 percent inflation rate in January 2024 from 2.8 percent in the previous month.
The PSA also identified top commodity groups that contributed low inflation rate in the Western Visayas headline inflation rate of 2.0 percent in January 2024.
The first factor is food and non-alcoholic beverages with 91.7 percent share or 1.8 percentage points. Restaurants and accommodation services represented a 20 percent share or 0.40 percentage points as one of the contributors.
On the other hand, alcoholic beverages and tobacco with 11.9 percent share or 0.2 percentage points ranked third in the commodity group as contributors to the headline inflation.
The food inflation in the region slowed down to 4.3 percent in January 2024 from 7.3 percent in the preceding month. Food inflation in January 2022 was recorded at 11.0 percent.
The downtrend of food inflation in January 2024 was largely brought about by the slowdown of the annual growth in the index of fish and other seafood to zero percent in January 2024 from a 6.5 percent inflation rate in December 2023./PN
