Guimaras’ month-on-month inflation rate in October 2020 slowed to 3.3% from 3.4% in September 2020, according to the results of the Survey on Retail Prices of Commodities of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
“A 3.3 percent inflation rate means that the prices of products/goods and services in October 2020 have increased, on the average, by 3.3 percent compared to the prices of products in October 2019,” said Provincial Statistics Officer (PSO) Nelida B. Losare.
Consequently, the CPI for all items for the month of October 2020 decreased to 124.9 from 125.4 in September of the same year brought about by the reduction in the indices of the following commodity groups in October 2020 (relative to the indices in September 2020): Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (-0.9%); and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other fuels (-0.6%).
The 0.9 percent drop in Food & Non- Alcoholic Beverages was mainly due to the slower indices of eight commodity items in October 2020: Rice (-1.6%), Fish (-1.4%), Vegetables (-1.9%), Corn (-0.4%), fruits (-0.4%), Meat (-0.1%), Milk, Cheese and Eggs (-0.1%), and Food products NEC (-3.4%).
Meanwhile, the CPI of the following commodity groups increased in October 2020 compared with the prices a month ago: Transport (0.9%); Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Maintenance of the House (0.3%); Restaurant & Miscellaneous Goods & Services (0.3%); and Recreation & Culture (0.2%).
The CPI of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco; Clothing & Footwear; Health; Communication; and Education remained the same from September 2020 to October 2020.
“A CPI of 124.9 means that an average Guimarasnon household needs 24.9 pesos more in October 2020 to buy a basket of goods and services worth 100 pesos in 2012,” Losare expounded.