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 -0.1 percent

• Central Visayas’ inflation decelerated further to -0.1 percent in October 2019. Inflation in September 2019 was recorded at 0.2 percent, and in October 2018, 6.6 percent (Table A).

• The slowdown of inflation in October 2019 was mainly driven by slower annual rate posted in the index of Transport at 0.7 percent.

• Higher annual rates were registered also in the indices of the following commodity groups:

  • Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, -1.0%;

  • Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 4.9%;

  • Clothing and Footwear, 0.5%;

  • Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels, -1.0%;

  • Health, 2.2%;

  • Communication, 0.2%

• Meanwhile, the following commodity groups maintained its previous month’s rate (Table B).

  • Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House, 4.2%;

  • Recreation and Culture, 0.2%;

  • Education, 3.2%;

  • Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 0.3%

October 2019 CPI in Central Visayas was recorded at 123.8

• The CPI in Central Visayas was recorded at 123.8 in October 2019. A decline was noted from the previous month which was at 124.0. In October 2018, CPI was at 123.9 and steadily decreased in the succeeding months until December 2018. There was a slight increase in January 2019 and then decreased again until March 2019. Starting April 2019, CPI for Central Visayas steadily increased until August 2019 and remained constant for the month of September 2019 then dropped to 123.8 in the month of October 2019.

• Higher annual rate was noted in the indices of each commodity group from September and October 2019 compared to September and October 2018 except for Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels which posted a lower annual rate this year compared to September last year (Table D).

Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) was recorded at 0.81 in October 2019

• In October 2018, PPP of Central Visayas was recorded at 0.81 and remained constant until November 2018. In December 2018, the PPP inclined to 0.82 then declined to 0.81 in January 2019 and remained constant for the month of February 2019. PPP for March 2019 increased to 0.82 and declined to 0.81 in the following month and remained constant until October 2019.

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