INFLATION. Vendors display their products at the Laoag open market in this undated photo. According to the PSA, inflation rate in Ilocos Norte went down by 0.7 in March compared to February 2013. (File photo by Leilanie Adriano)
MALASIQUI, Pangasinan/LAOAG, Ilocos Norte – The inflation rate in the Ilocos Region has declined to 6.7 percent this March from 8.3 percent in February.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, lawyer Sheila de Guzman, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Ilocos regional director, said the decreased inflation in the region can be attributed primarily to the considerable decrease in the inflation of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 5.1 percent from 9.0 percent in March.
"Health at 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent; transport at 1.5 percent from 6.0 percent; restaurant and accommodation services at 5.0 percent from 5.4 percent; and food and non-alcoholic beverages, at 9.6 percent from 10.5 percent in February," she said.
She added higher annual increments in alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 9.0 percent; furnishings, household equipment and routine and household maintenance at 9.0 percent; personal care and miscellaneous good at 7.3 percent; clothing and footwear at 6.0 percent; recreation, sport and culture at 4.4 percent; and information and communication at 1.0 percent were observed.
"The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s inflation rates or had zero percent annual growths," she said.
The food index of the Ilocos Region decreased to 9.9 percent in March 2023, from the 10.9 percent in the previous month.
In March 2022, the food index posted a rate of 2.2 percent, de Guzman said.
She said among the provinces, Pangasinan posted the highest inflation rate at 7.7 percent in March followed by Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte at 6.0 percent, and 5.4 percent, respectively. The lowest inflation rate was registered in La Union at 4.9 percent.
"Compared to their respective levels in March 2022, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur exhibited decreased inflation rates by 0.5 percentage point and 2.2 percentage points, respectively," she added. The inflation rate in Ilocos Norte in February was 6.1 percent.
The provinces of La Union and Pangasinan exhibited increases in the inflation rates by 1.9 percentage points and 3.7 percentage points, respectively.
Ilocos Norte
Marilyn Vergara, chief statistical specialist of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in Ilocos Norte, said Wednesday that the province's March inflation rate was 2.2 percent lower than the national inflation rate of 7.6 percent.
"The continued downtrend was due to sustained decrease in the year-on-year rate in transport to negative 1.3 percent from 1.6 percent in February, and housing, water, gas, electricity, and other fuels from 6.6 percent in the previous month to 5 percent,” added Vergara.
The health index also went down from 4 percent in February to 3.3 percent in March, as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages at 9.6 percent from 9.8 percent.
The PSA, however, observed higher inflation rates in personal care with the increase at 1.2 percent; alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 1 percent; clothing and footwear at 0.8 percent; recreation, sport, and culture at 0.7 percent; furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance, as well as information and communication at 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the annual rates for education, restaurants, and accommodation services have retained their previous month’s inflation rates at 0.7 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.
Financial services also continued to record a zero percent annual growth. (PNA)
