Consumer Price Index (CPI)

For the month of July, a typical market basket of goods and services in Bohol costs Php 22.8 higher than that of 2012 of the same month which is only Php 100.00. On a month-on-month basis, there is a 1.0% increase from June’s CPI at 121.6 to 122.8 in July.

The subgroups Tobacco, Vegetables and Recreational and Cultural Services again topped in terms of CPI. These commodity groups cost on the average 183.9, 157.9 and 151.3, respectively. Other commodities with relatively high CPIs were Secondary Education with 147.0, Corn with 144.8, and Fish with 140.6. Among the food items, clamor on the prices of vegetables, corn and fish are really felt on the realized CPI figures.

Inflation Rate (IR)

In terms of the year-on-year rate of increase of price of the market basket of Bohol, the province had an Inflation Rate of 7.2 in July. This IR set the highest record in the past six years. For this year, an inflation rate of more than 5.0 started in the month of April.

Among the commodity subgroups, Tobacco ranked first in the computed inflation rate for July with a value of 29.2. This was followed by Operation of Personal Transport Equipment with IR of 28.9, Corn with 25.0, Fish with 24.2 and Postal Services with 21.9. The rest of the commodities with inflation rates more than 10.0 are enumerated in the table below.

Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP)

With the sharp rise of the inflation rate, a downtrend for the PPP is expected. The Purchasing Power of Peso of Boholanos continued to decline to Php 0.81 this July. This can be interpreted that given the same amount, the quantity of commodities purchased this month is only 81.0% of the quantity that can be bought in 2012.

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).