Consumer Price Index (CPI)

In Bohol, a typical market basket of goods and services is purchased on the average at 121.6 for the month of April from a hundred worth in 2012. This is 2.1 points higher than that of the previous month with a 1.8% monthly change. Across commodity groups, subgroup Tobacco has the highest CPI at 182.4. Following this was Vegetables, and Recreational and Cultural Services with CPIs 151.4 and 151.1, respectively. Other commodities with high CPIs were Corn, Goods and Services for Routine Household Maintenance, and Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels. In contrast, Operation of Personal Transport Equipment had a CPI of only 96.0 making it the subgroup with the lowest CPI.

Inflation Rate (IR)

The effect of the TRAIN Law has been continuously reflected in the inflation rate of commodities. From 4.9 in February to 4.7 in March, the IR rose again this April with a value of 5.6, the highest so far for the last twelve months.

The highest contributor so far for the Inflation Rate of All Items was Corn with 39.2 IR for April. This value resulted from a CPI of 103.4 last year of the same month to a CPI this month of 144.0. Other subgroups with high inflation rates were: Tobacco with 30.5, Non-alcoholic Beverages with 22.0, Postal Services with 21.9, Operation of Personal Transport Equipment with 20.5, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels with 18.9 and Fish with 16.1.

A noticeable negative IR for April was as observed for Newspapers, Books and Stationery with -7.7 IR and Transport Services with -6.7. Subgroups Audio-visual, Photographic and Information Processing Equipment, and Catering Services as well had negative inflation rates.

Month-on-month, the percent change for all items was 1.8%. Going down to the commodities, the top notcher in terms of monthly percent change was Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels that changed by 23.9%. Ranking second and third were Other Major Durables for Recreation and Culture, and Non-alcoholic Beverages with changes 4.8 and 4.0, respectively.

Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP)

The Purchasing Power of Peso of Bohol for this month decreased by 0.02 compared to last month. The decrease in the PPP was still attributed to the further increase in CPI. The same decreasing trend was still observed for PPP, from Php0.88 in June last year to Php0.82 in April this year.

JESSAMYN ANNE C. ALCAZAREN (Sgd.)
Chief Statistical Specialist

EXPLANATORY NOTES

The Philippine Statistics Authority monthly conducts a nationwide survey of prices for a given market basket of goods and services. Three vital indicators are generated, namely, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Inflation Rate and Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP)