Headline inflation rate, or the rate of change in the prices of goods and services, in Guimaras moved at a slower pace of 3.6 percent in June 2023, cut down by more than half compared to the 8 percent inflation rate a year ago.
This is based on the latest price statistics released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
“The slower rate of change in the prices of goods and services for June was mainly pushed by the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages with 6.6 percent inflation followed by Transport with -13.0 percent; and Restaurant and Accommodation Services 11.3 percent inflation,” Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said.
The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages inflation rate showed the highest share of 65.7 percent, followed by Transport with 21.6 percent share, and Restaurants and Accommodation Services with 8.5 percent share,” Losare added.
Slower inflation in Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages was mainly due to the reduced prices of Food Groups, with 6.9 percent inflation lower by 1.3 percentage points from 8.2 percent food inflation in May 2023.
The -13.0 percent slump in Transport inflation was driven by price drop in Gasoline (-25.4), followed by Other Passenger Transport by Road (0), and Diesel with (32.2).
Losare explained that the 11.3 percent inflation in Restaurants and Accommodation Services also shared a significant share in the downtrend of June inflation due to the sluggish price movements of Restaurants, Café, and the like-with full service, with 11.5 percent inflation.
Other commodities which showed slower inflation rates in June 2023 than the previous month’s rate are Health (-0.5%); Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (6.6%); Recreation, Sports and Culture (4.8%) Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (9.9%); and Information and Communication (0.4%).
“On the other hand, Clothing and Footwear (0.1%); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (0.3%); Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (6.7%); Education Services (-0.3%); and Financial Services (0.0%), were the other five commodity groups with a steady inflation,” Losare said.
The annual 3.6 percent inflation in June 2023 implied that the average price changes of consumer goods and services moved slower with 124.3 Consumer Price Index (CPI).
“This indicates that a typical Guimarasnon households need 1,243 pesos in June 2023 to purchase same basket of goods and services worth 1,000 pesos in 2018,” Losare clarified.
The CPI is used to compute the inflation rate for a specific period, including the Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP).
“The Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) in Guimaras at 0.80 in June 2023 indicates that the one peso in 2018 is now worth 0.80 centavos, representing a 0.03 percentage points depreciation from the PPP value of 0.83 recorded in June 2022,” Losare said.
