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. Data users can expect two sets of the CPI as the new series shall be issued simultaneously with the 2006-based series until June 2018. The CPI series for July 2018 onwards shall be 2012-based.
Year on Year Inflation rate in Central Visayas was recorded at 6.6 percent
Central Visayas’ inflation rate continued to accelerate at a slower pace of 6.6 percent in October 2018 compared to last year of the same period at 3.1 percent. In the previous month, inflation was posted at 7.0 percent. (Table A). Inflation during the month was second to highest since January 2014 (Table C).
- The uptrend was primarily brought about by the indices of the following commodity groups:
- Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 21.2%; and
- Transport, 8.3%;
- Meanwhile, lower annual increase was noted in the following commodity groups:
- Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 9.0%;
- Clothing and Footwear, 1.0%
- Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels, 5.9%
- Communication, 0.0%
- The rest of the commodity groups maintained their previous month’s rate (Table B).
Central Visayas CPI’s recorded an increase of 123.9 compared to the previous month
The CPI in Central Visayas was recorded at 123.9 in October 2018. An increment was noted from previous month which was at 123.8. In October 2017, it was at 116.2 and decreased at 116.1 in November 2017 and steadily increased in the succeeding months.
Higher annual rate was noted in the indices of all items by commodity groups from September and October 2018 compared to September and October 2017 (Table D).
Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) was recorded at 0.81 in September 2018
- In October 2017, PPP of Central Visayas was recorded at 0.86 and remain constant at 0.86 until December 2017. It dropped to 0.85 in January 2018 from 0.86 in December 2017 and steadily decreased until April 2018 and retain at 0.82 until July 2018. The PPP decreased at 0.81 in August 2018 and remain constant until October 2018. (Figure 2).
TECHNICAL NOTES
Regional Director