Tuesday, August 12, 2008 High inflation hurts biz sector, consumer
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Across the country, two Mindanao regions posted the highest spike in prices of basic goods and services in June over their levels a year ago, which are beyond the national inflation rate, latest official government statistics showed.
Owing to increasing prices of consumer commodities, the business sector in Central Mindanao said they are affected with the crisis.
Herlita G. Caraan, chief of the National Statistical Coordination Board in Central Mindanao, citing National Statistics Office data, said the July year-on-year inflation rate for the region increased to an average of 18.9 percent.
"Region 12 [Central Mindanao] posted the highest inflation among all the regions [just] behind Caraga which posted 19.8 percent," she said.
The national inflation rate for June 2008 stood at 11.4 percent.
Central Mindanao's June 2007 inflation rate was recorded at less than four percent, a comparative graph showed.
Allan D. Yaphockun, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry governor for Southern Mindanao, lamented that skyrocketing prices of commodities have slowed down sales turn out in the last few years.
"Consumers nowadays are having a hard time, thus business is not brisk," he said when sought about the rising inflation rate on the region.
A player in the construction industry in Central Mindanao region, Yaphockun noted that because of costlier prices of materials, people prefers repair works instead of building new houses.
On the part of ordinary consumers, many lamented the costlier prices of goods, stressing their purchasing power has declined and thus cutting on non-essential buys.
Historically, prices of basic goods and services in Central Mindanao breached the double-digit level last April at 10.8 percent and it has consistently been rising until June. By May, it grew to 12.2 percent.
"The continued increases in the prices of rice and petroleum products pushed further the regional inflation to an all-time high since the turn of the century," Caraan said.
By commodity group, Food, Beverages and Tobacco (FBT) and Fuel, Light and Water (FLW) posted double-digit inflation rates compared to the previous month.
Inflation for the FBT sector in June rose to 27.1 from 15.9 percent in May, while FLW jumped to 11.9 from 9.5 percent in the same comparative period, the regional statistics office said.
Inflation data on selected food items revealed that rice and corn posted inflation rates more than double the previous month, data showed.
Price of rice surged to 63 percent in June from 26.3 percent the previous month. On the other hand, corn registered 63.4 percent increase from 30.7 percent.
Abusama M. Alid, Department of Agriculture director for Central Mindanao, attributed the spike in prices of these agricultural commodities to high cost of production inputs such as fertilizers.
"Rising prices of fuel products have also brought up transport costs for agricultural commodities," he added.
Prices of fish and meat products in June from May also increased to 13.2 percent (from 11.1 percnet) and 12.2 percent (from 10.6 percent), respectively.
Meantime, meals eaten outside the home also registered 14.5 percent hike in June from 12.1 percent the previous month, the selected food item table showed.
Prices of construction materials also went up as housing and repairs posted 8.9 percent in June from 7.5 percent in May, the regional office said.
