Wednesday, June 25, 2008 Inflation rate in Central Mindanao hits 12%
KORONADAL CITY - Owing to the soaring costs of petroleum products, prices of goods and services in Central Mindanao surged by 1.4 percent last month as its palay production for the first quarter of the year experienced a boost.
Herlita G. Caraan, chief of the National Statistics Office for Central Mindanao, said the inflation rate for May was estimated at 12.2 percent, 1.4 percentage points higher than the 10.8 percent inflation a month earlier.
"In simple terms, this would mean that the prices of goods and services in the region in May 2008 were 12.2 percent higher, on the average, than their prices in May 2007," she explained.
"The steady increase was brought about by the increases in the prices of rice and petroleum products, the latter pushing higher further the prices of other goods and services due to increased transportation costs," she added.
Among commodity groups, food, beverages and tobacco registered the highest inflation rate at 15.9 percent from 13.9 in April.
Fuel, light and water registered 10 percent inflation from April's 9.5 percent.
Among the food items, prices of cereals in the region increased by 27 percent as rice and corn registered 26.5 and 30.7 percents inflation rates, respectively.
Dairy products posted 16.3 percent inflation from 15.3 in April. Fish products registered 11.1 percent increase in prices while meat products posted 10.6 percent uptrend.
Meals eaten outside the home posted 12.1 percent inflation during the period, three times more than the national figure of 3.6.
The national inflation rate on all items was placed at 9.6 percent, the highest since January 1999.
