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SUMMARY INFLATION REPORT CONSUMER PRICE INDEX APRIL AND MARCH 1999
Inflation Rates, Philippines, All Items
| |
April |
March |
Year-to-date |
| Year-on-year |
8.0 |
8.7 |
9.5 |
| Month-on-month |
-0.1 |
-0.3 |
|
r - revised
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
(1994=100)
APRIL 1999
By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year
The rates for food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) slowed
down to 7.8 percent in April from 9.2 percent in March; housing and repairs
(H&R), 9.4 percent from 9.7 percent; miscellaneous items, 6.1 percent
from 6.7 percent; and clothing, 7.3 percent from 7.5 percent. On the other
hand, the rates increased for services , 9.5 percent in April from 9.1
percent in March, and fuel, light and water (FLW), 5.0 percent from 4.5
percent.
- The inflation rate for food alone was 7.8 percent in
April from 9.4 percent in March. Lower rates were posted in the prices
of rice, 5.9 percent in April from 6.2 percent in March; fruits and vegetables,
17.7 percent from 24.4 percent; miscellaneous foods, 7.1 percent from 8.1
percent; fish, 9.6 percent from 12.0 percent; meat, 5.5 percent from 6.3
percent; eggs,15.2 percent from 15.5 percent; cereal preparations, 6.0
percent from 6.9 percent; and dairy products, 4.5 percent from 5.1 percent.
However, the price of corn decreased by -2.0 percent in April compared
to -2.1 percent last month.
In Metro Manila (MM), the rates for FBT declined by 1.9
percentage points; H&R, 0.8 percentage point; and miscellaneous items,
1.2 percentage points. However, the rates for FLW and services were correspondingly
higher by 0.3 percentage point and 1.3 percentage points. Inflation in
clothing remained at 7.1 percent.
- The inflation for food alone in MM slowed down to 6.5
percent in April from 8.6 percent in March. Lower rates were recorded in
the prices of rice, -0.3 percent in April from 0.3 percent in March; cereal
preparations, 5.6 percent from 6.8 percent; dairy products, 4.1 percent
from 4.2 percent; eggs, 25.1 percent from 26.6 percent; fish, 11.1 percent
from 17.5 percent; fruits and vegetables, 27.5 percent from 30.7 percent;
meat, 2.2 percent from 4.9 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 1.4 percent
from 2.5 percent. However, the price of corn increased to 14.5 percent
in April from -8.8 percent in March.
For areas outside Metro Manila (AOMM), the rates for
FBT in April decreased by 1.3 percentage points; clothing, 0.3 percentage
point; services, 0.1 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 0.6 percentage
point. FLW inflation picked up by 0.7 percentage point while the rate for
H&R remained at 11.9 percent.
- The inflation rate for food alone moved down to 8.3 percent
in April from 9.7 percent last month.
- The inflation rate for rice slowed down to 6.9 percent
in April from 7.1 percent in March. Eight regions posted lower rates; the
biggest decline was 4.5 percentage points in Eastern Visayas.
- Inflation rates for corn slowed down to -2.3 percent
in April from -2.0 percent last month; cereal preparations, 6.2 percent
from 6.9 percent; dairy products, 4.7 percent from 5.5 percent; fish, 9.3
percent from 10.7 percent; fruits and vegetables, 14.6 percent from 22.4
percent; and miscellaneous foods, 9.7 percent from 10.6 percent. Higher
rates were registered in the prices of eggs, 12.2 percent in April from
12.1 percent in March, and meat, 7.0 percent from 6.9 percent.
By Region, Year-on-Year
The inflation rate for Metro Manila decreased to 6.8
percent in April from 7.6 percent in March.
AOMM inflation moved down to 8.5 percent in April from
9.2 percent last month. All the regions recorded lower inflation rates.
The biggest decline was noted in Eastern Visayas at 1.8 percentage points
followed by CAR at 1.7 percentage points. Southern Mindanao posted the
lowest inflation rate at 4.5 percent while Cagayan Valley recorded the
highest rate at 11.8 percent.
By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month
Month-on-month inflation rates for all commodity groups
were lower in April except for FBT which decreased to -0.4 percent compared
to -1.0 percent in March and services which remained at 0.3 percent. Clothing
went down by 0.3 percentage point; H&R, 0.7 percentage point; FLW,
0.4 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 0.6 percentage point.
- The price of rice declined by 0.2 percent in April from
0.1 percent in March. Seven regions recorded negative inflation rates during
the month including MM. The lowest rate was noted in CARAGA at -1.9 percent
while Central Visayas registered the highest rate at 1.4 percent.
- Corn prices slowed down to 1.0 percent in the Philippines
and 0.7 percent in AOMM in April from their growth of 2.3 percent in March.
However, in MM, it significantly increased to 24.6 percent from -0.5 percent
last month.
- Prices of cereal preparations remained at the levels
of the previous month.
- Prices of dairy products recorded higher rates of 0.3
percent in MM and 0.2 percent in AOMM and Philippines as milk and ice cream
were priced higher during the month.
- In MM, prices of eggs fell by 1.1 percent in April from
0.6 percent in March while in AOMM, the rate remained at 0.2 percent. This
caused the national index to post a 0.2 percent decrement.
- Fish prices dropped in MM by 2.7 percent but posted a
zero growth in AOMM resulting to a 0.5 percent decline for the Philippines.
- With the exception of MM and ARMM, the fruits and vegetables
index declined in all the regions resulting to a 2.6 percent drop in the
national index. Good weather conditions continued to enhance the production
of fruits and vegetables which, in turn, brought lower prices. The declines
ranged from -1.6 percent in Ilocos to -7.5 percent in CAR.
- The meat index in MM further went down by -1.5 percent
in April from -0.6 percent in March as prices of chicken were still lower
due to continued abundant supply. This pulled down the national index to
-0.2 percent even as meat prices in AOMM increased by 0.4 percent.
- Sugar, garlic and ginger were priced lower during the
month in most of the regions including MM resulting to a 0.3 percent reduction
in the miscellaneous foods index.
- The national index of meals eaten outside slowed down
by 0.1 percent in April from 0.2 percent last month.
The H&R index rose by 0.4 percent in April from its
corresponding levels of 1.1 percent for the Philippines and AOMM, and 0.9
percent in MM in March. This was brought about by price hikes in construction
materials, particularly cement, plywood, common wire nails and paint.
Higher prices of gasoline, diesel, lubricating oil, supplies
used for maintenance and repair of transport, medicines as well as higher
charges for telephone and domestic help pushed up the services index in
MM to 0.5 percent in April from 0.2 percent in March. In AOMM, the rate
slowed down to 0.2 percent from 0.3 percent.
The FLW index in MM increased to 0.8 percent in April
from 0.4 percent last month resulting from higher currency adjustment rate
(CERA) and purchased power adjustment (PPA) for electricity. In AOMM, the
index remained at the level of the previous month.
The clothing index increased in the Philippines and in
AOMM but at slower rates of 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
In MM, the index decreased by 0.1 percent due to price cutbacks in ready-made
apparel and footwear.
The AOMM index for miscellaneous items slowed down to
0.1 percent in April from 0.3 percent last month while MM registered zero
growth resulting to a 0.1 percent increment in the national index.
By Region, Month-on-Month
Prices in Metro Manila went up to 0.1 percent in April
from -0.3 percent in March. Increments in the rates were noted in the prices
of FBT, 1.1 percentage points; FLW, 0.4 percentage point; and services,
0.3 percentage point. However, clothing was lower by 0.8 percentage point;
H&R, 0.5 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 1.8 percentage
points.
In AOMM, prices decreased to -0.1 percent in April compared
to -0.3 percent a month earlier. Except for FBT whose rate was higher by
0.4 percentage point, all other commodity groups recorded lower month-on-month
rates. Clothing and services were lower by 0.1 percentage point; H&R,
0.7 percentage point; FLW, 0.8 percentage point; and miscellaneous items,
0.2 percentage point. Ten regions posted negative rates with the lowest
rate recorded in CARAGA at -0.8 percent while the highest rate was registered
in ARMM at 0.5 percent.
Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines
Page Last Updated: May 8, 2001
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