FOOD SUPPLY. Food items sold in a supermarket in Bacolod City in this undated photo. In August, lower food prices was a top contributor to the deceleration of inflation rates in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed on Friday (Sept. 13, 2024). (PNA Bacolod file photo)
BACOLOD CITY – Decrease in the price indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport, and education services eased inflation for all income households in this highly-urbanized city and the province of Negros Occidental in August.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that in Bacolod City, inflation slowed to 5.6 percent in August from 6.2 percent in July, while in Negros Occidental, it decelerated to 4.5 percent from last month’s 4.8 percent.
“We are happy to note that after a few months, there is deceleration, and we are looking forward to the same for the remaining months of the year,” Diesah Biaoco, supervising statistical specialist of PSA, said in a press briefing on Friday.
She encouraged Negrenses to assess their financial situation and start or continue saving up and even get insured amid the slowing of inflation rates.
“Also, live within your means and develop a disciplined spending,” she added.
In Bacolod City, the top major contributor to last month’s lower inflation was transport, with a 48.2 percent share of the downtrend in inflation.
Transport inflation eased to negative 1.8 percent in August from 2.4 percent in July.
Also sharing in the downtrend were education services, with 34.4 percent, and food and non-alcoholic beverages, with 17.4 percent.
The inflation rate of education services slowed to 11.4 percent in August, from 19.8 percent in July, while that of food, 6.4 percent in August from 6.8 percent in July.
In Negros Occidental, the top major contributor to August inflation was food and non-alcoholic beverages, with a 59.4 percent share of the downtrend in inflation.
The second and third highest contributors to the downtrend in inflation in the province are transport and education services, with a share of 37.9 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.
The inflation rate of transport decelerated to negative 0.6 percent in August, from 2.2 percent in July, while education services eased to 15.2 percent in August from 16.4 percent in July. (PNA)
