SLOWER INFLATION. A graph showing the inflation rate in Eastern Visayas for 12 months. Eastern Visayas recorded its lowest inflation rate in the past five years at 1.8 percent in September, primarily driven by a decrease in food prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday (Oct. 11, 2024). (Infographic courtesy of PSA)
TACLOBAN CITY – Eastern Visayas recorded its lowest inflation rate in the past five years at 1.8 percent in September, primarily driven by a decrease in food prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.
The downtrend was influenced by the slower inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages at 2.2 percent last month, down from 5.5 percent in August.
Also contributing to the decrease was the lower inflation rate of the transport commodity group at 1.8 percent in September from 3.3 percent in the previous month.
“The decrease of the inflation rate for food in August 2024 was primarily influenced by the slower inflation rate in rice at 7.1 percent during the month from 17.6 percent in August 2024,” PSA 8 (Eastern Visayas) Director Wilma Perante said in a press briefing Friday.
The price decline of milk, other dairy products, and eggs registered slower inflation rate at 2.4 percent in September from 3.6 percent in the previous month, according to Perante.
Francis Rosaroso, chief of the Department of Agriculture's regional agribusiness and marketing assistance division, said the lower price of food is driven by assistance from the government and favorable weather conditions.
“We are happy to see the effect of government interventions on our rice farmers, such as the provision of seeds and fertilizers. We don’t have destructive typhoons this year, as well,” Rosaroso said.
The September inflation rate is the lowest since July 2020. For the first time in 53 months, inflation was less than 2 percent.
All the region’s six provinces also posted a lower inflation rate between August and September.
Although Leyte province posted the highest in September at 2.7 percent, this was lower than the 3.8 percent recorded a month earlier.
Biliran came next with 2.4 percent, lower than the 5 percent recorded in August.
Eastern Samar province registered a 1.9 percent inflation, lower than the 2.7 percent logged the previous month.
Southern Leyte province recorded the fourth highest inflation at 1.7 percent, way lower than 3.9 percent in August.
Northern Samar’s inflation rate also dropped to 2.6 percent in September from 4.2 percent in August.
Samar posted the lowest inflation at 0.9 percent, significantly lower than the 2.6 percent recorded a month earlier.
Inflation rate is the annual rate of change or the year-on-year changes in the consumer price index. It indicates how fast or slow the price changes over two time periods.
Contrary to common knowledge, Perante said, low inflation does not necessarily mean a decrease in the prices of commodities.
Instead, it means that prices continue to increase but at a slower rate, she said.
The PSA came up with the data by establishing baseline information for the prices of the items in the base year 2018 and monitoring their prices regularly.
Data collection for the consumer price index is done by the PSA provincial office twice a month, except for petroleum products, which they monitor every Friday. (PNA)
