The inflation rate in Guimaras province surged to 7.0% in May 2024, up from 6.8% in April.
The provincial average inflation for January to May 2024 now stands at 3.7%, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare attributed the overall inflation increase primarily to higher prices in several key sectors.
“The uptrend in the overall inflation in May 2024 was primarily influenced by the faster year-on-year decrease in the heavily weighted Restaurants and Accommodation Services at 5.3% during the month, from 3.1% in March 2024 which was pushed by the faster price movement on Food and Beverage Serving Services with an inflation of 5.1% in May 2024,” Losare explained.
Losare also highlighted the impact of food and non-alcoholic beverages on inflation, noting a significant annual growth rate.
“The faster annual growth rate of the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ index at 11.1% in May 2024 from 10.9% in the previous month pushed by the fast-moving price on Non-Alcoholic Beverages with 4.2%, which also contributed to the uptrend of the overall inflation,” she added.
In addition, there was a noticeable increase in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels, which saw inflation rise to 1.1% in May from 0.6% in April, driven by escalating costs of Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels with a 3.6% inflation rate.
However, some commodity groups registered slower inflation rates. Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco saw a decrease to 5.9% from 9.3%, and Health dropped to 7.5% from 7.9%. Other sectors, including Clothing and Footwear, Recreation, Sport and Culture, Education Services, and Financial Services, maintained their previous month’s annual rates.
The top contributors to the May 2024 overall inflation were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, accounting for 79.7% share or 5.58 percentage points, followed by Restaurants and Accommodation Services with 3.7% share or 0.26 percentage points, and Transport with 3.6% share or 0.25 percentage points.
Losare also pointed out that core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, rose to 3.8% in May 2024 from 3.3% in April. This was a decrease from May 2023, when core inflation was at 6.1%.
“Inflation Rate is the rate of change in the CPI derived by computing the indices relative to the same period in the previous year or month, and currently, Guimaras Province posted a 132.2 CPI. This indicates that a typical Guimarasnon household needs 1,322.00 pesos in May 2024 to purchase a basket of goods and services worth 1,000 pesos in 2018,” Losare clarified.
“The Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) in Guimaras remains constant at 0.76 in May 2024, indicating that one peso in 2018 is now worth 0.76 centavos, recording a devaluation of 0.05% from 0.81 PPP in May 2023,” she added.
