Starting March 2018, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released the rebased CPI series as announced in the press release number 2018-031 dated 22 February 2018. The CPI series for July 2018 onwards shall be 2012-based.

Year on Year Inflation rate in Central Visayas was recorded at 2.2 percent

• Central Visayas’ inflation rate further decelerated to 2.2 percent in March 2019. The inflation was lower compared to last year of the same period at 5.2 percent. In the previous month, inflation was posted at 3.5 percent (Table A).

• ·Lower annual increases in the indices of the following commodity groups during the month also contributed to the downtrend:
•  Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 3.1%
• Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 4.4%
• Clothing and Footwear, 0.6%;
• Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance
• of the House, 4.2%
• Health, 3.1%;
• Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 0.7%
• Recreation and Culture, 2.8%
• ·Meanwhile, higher annual mark-ups were exhibited in the indices of the following commodity groups:
• Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels, 3.2%
• Transport, -2.5%;
• The rest of the commodity groups maintained their previous month’s rate (Table B).

March 2019 CPI in Central Visayas was recorded at 122.6

• The CPI in Central Visayas was recorded at 122.6 in March 2019. A decline was noted from previous month which was at 122.8. In March 2018, it was at 120.0 and steadily increased in the succeeding months until October 2018. A decline of the CPI was noted in the months of November and December 2018 and a slight increase in January 2019 then decrease for the last two months.
• Higher annual rate was noted in the indices of each commodity group from March and February 2019 compared to March and February 2018 except for Education and Transport (Table D).

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Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) was recorded at 0.82 in March 2019

• In March 2018, PPP of Central Visayas was recorded at 0.83. It decreased in April 2018 at 0.82 and remain constant until July 2018. In August 2018, PPP decreased to 0.81 and remain constant until November 2018. In December 2018, the PPP inclined to 0.82 and declined to 0.81 in January 2019 and remain constant for the month of February. PPP for March 2019 increase to 0.82.

TECHNICAL NOTES

The Philippine Statistics Authority generates and announces the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) based on a nationwide survey of prices for a given basket of goods and services. Two important indicators, the inflation rate and purchasing power of the peso (PPP), are derived from the CPI which are important in monitoring price stability and the value of the country’s currency. 

The CPI is an indicator of the change in the average retail prices of a fixed basket of goods and services commonly purchased by households relative to a base year.

Retail Price is the price at which a commodity is sold for spot in small quantities for consumption.

Base Period/Base Year is the period, usually a year, at which the index number is set to 100. It is the reference point of the index number series.

Market Basket is a term used to refer to a sample of goods and services that are commonly purchased and bought by an average Filipino household.

Weight is a value attached to a commodity or ground of commodities to indicate the relative importance of that commodity or group of commodities in the market basket.

Inflation Rate is equivalent to a decline in the purchasing power of the peso. It is the change in the CPI over a specific period of time (usually a month or a year). That is, where:

CPI₁ - is the CPI in the previous period

CPI₂ - is the CPI in the current period

The Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) is a measure of the real value of the peso in a given period relative to a chosen reference period. It is computed by getting the reciprocal of the CPI and multiplying the result by 100. That is,

Headline Inflation is the rate of change in the weighted average prices of all goods and services in the CPI basket.

(SGD.) ARIEL E. FLORENDO
Regional Director