Western Visayas inflation slows down to 1.1%

BACOLOD. Inflation rate in Western Visayas drops by 0.3 percent, from 1.4 percent in September to 1.1 percent in October this year. (Photo by Erwin P. Nicavera)
BACOLOD. Inflation rate in Western Visayas drops by 0.3 percent, from 1.4 percent in September to 1.1 percent in October this year. (Photo by Erwin P. Nicavera)

THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has reported a lower inflation rate in Western Visayas in October, at 1.1 percent or a drop of 0.3 percent from 1.4 percent in September.

The PSA noted a downward inflation in three commodity groups such as food and non-alcoholic beverages, from -0.2 to -0.7 percent; clothing and footwear - 2.9 to 2.8 percent; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services - 2.1 to 1.6 percent.

Though, most of the commodity groups in the region were noted to have higher inflation rate in October.

The agency reported that for alcoholic beverages and tobacco, the regional inflation inched to 16.1 from 15.1 percent while that for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels went up to 1.5 from 1.4 percent.

For health, the figure increased from 3.2 to 3.4 percent; transport - -0.2 to -1.0 percent; communication - 0.6 to 0.7 percent; and recreation and culture - 2.0 to 2.1 percent.

A steady inflation, meanwhile, was noted in furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house, at 4.2 percent. In education, the region’s inflation also stayed at 2.3 percent.

Western Visayas’ inflation for October is actually higher than the country’s headline inflation rate of 0.8 percent, which is the lowest inflation recorded since May 2016, in which the inflation rate was posted at 0.9 percent.

Inflation in September 2019 was 0.9 percent, or higher by 0.1 percent compared last month.

The PSA said the downtrend in the inflation was mainly due to the 0.9 percent annual drop registered in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages index.

Similarly, the annual rate of transport index declined further by 1.7 percent during the month.

Moreover, slower annual increments were noted in the commodity groups like housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 0.6 percent, furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house, 2.7 percent, and health, and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services, both at 2.9 percent.

On the contrary, annual increases were higher in the indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 16.5 percent, and clothing and footwear at 2.8 percent.

The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s annual rates, it added.

Comparing it to other regions outside National Capital Region (NCR), Western Visayas is the fourth highest along with Mimaropa next to Central Luzon with 2.3 percent, Calabarzon with 1.4 percent, and Cordillera Administrative Region with 1.2 percent.

As inflation continued to decelerate for the fifth straight month in the year, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) expects 2019 full-year inflation to settle within the government’s target of two to four percent.

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