THE inflation rate for Cebu City has remained the same for February 2024, while those of Lapu-Lapu City and Mandaue City have increased, according to the recent data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in Central Visayas.
The PSA Cebu Provincial Statistical Office held a press conference on March 15, 2024 and presented data on inflation rates for February 2024 for the province of Cebu and highly-urbanized cities (HUCs) such as Cebu City, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu.
Data revealed that the inflation rate of Cebu City stood at 4.5 percent, same as in January 2024, while the inflation rate for Lapu-Lapu City increased to 4.5 percent from 2.6 percent, and Mandaue City saw an increase from 5.9 percent in January to 6.7 percent in February.
Melchor Bautista, chief statistical specialist of PSA Central Visayas, said that main sources of accelerating inflation rate in Lapu-Lapu City and Mandaue City are Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages.
The food group that has higher inflation rates across HUCs is rice, while the lower year-on-year index of vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses contributed to a lower inflation rate, followed by fish and other seafood.
Asked about the potential increase in the prices of rice, Bautista said that it is usually the Department of Agriculture who can give out data, but added that rice is usually a volatile food group based on the trending data.
"Volatile man kaayo ang food groups, mao na siya depende sa policymaker kung unsaon pag [handle] especially sa rice," said Bautista.
He said, though, that the current position of the HUCs and province of Cebu is still positive compared to the national data. This is due to Cebu s being in the center, which means that mobility of food and products are fast especially with the improved infrastructure that helps in transporting goods faster.
Cebu also has enough structures to store products, such as warehouses, he added. This storage capacity is usually a problem for other provinces.
"Meaning to say ang mobility sa in and out sa mga product paspas, mao nay comparative advantage to other area," said Bautista.
He said another advantage that Cebu province has is that investors from other regions have a high outlook toward Cebu due to the high market. (RJM)