Guimaras province posted a slight rise in inflation in February 2024 to 5.9%, against 4.6% the previous month.
The increase was driven primarily by the rapid rise in food commodity prices, which saw a jump from 6.3% to 9.0% in February 2024, according to the latest statistics from the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA).
The major contributors to the February inflation of 5.9% for all items in Guimaras were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, which accounted for 83.4% of the category and contributed 74.1% to the province’s overall inflation.
This was followed by the Restaurants and Accommodation Services sector, which reported a 12.7% inflation rate and contributed 10.8% to the total inflation for the month, Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare reported.
Restaurants, cafes, and similar full-service establishments experienced a 12.9% inflation rate, while the Transport sector reported a deflation of 1.3%, influenced by a 7.0% drop in gasoline prices.
Losare noted that Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages remained the top contributors to February’s inflation, with Restaurants and Accommodation Services and Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco following, the latter experiencing an inflation rate of 9.8% and a 5.9% decrease in its contribution to the overall inflation.
Additionally, the price statistics indicated that among the 13 commodity groups, four showed a decrease in inflation from January to February 2024, while seven reported an increase, and two maintained a steady price index.
Losare further explained that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of the rate of price changes, stood at 132.5 in February for Guimaras.
This figure implies that a typical household in Guimaras would need PHP 1,325.00 in February 2024 to buy the same goods and services that PHP 1,000 would have bought in 2018.
This is an increase of 1.5% from January 2024 and 7.4% from February 2023.
Moreover, the Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) in Guimaras decreased to 0.75 in February 2024, down from 0.76 in January 2024 and 0.80 from February 2023, indicating that the value of one peso in 2018 is equivalent to 75 centavos in February 2024, Losare added.
