MAY 2013
Year-on-Year and Month-on-Month Growth Rates
of General Retail Price Index: May and April 2013
| All Items | May 2013 | April 2013 | Year-to-date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year-on-Year | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
| Month-on-Month | 0.1 | 0.1 |
Year-on-Year
The annual growth in the General Retail Price Index (GRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) inched up 3.2 percent in May from 3.1 percent in April. Higher annual increments were posted in beverages and tobacco index at 20.0 percent in May from 19.9 percent in April; crude materials, inedible except fuels index, 11.5 percent from 10.2 percent; and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index, 2.1 percent from 1.5 percent. On the other hand, the annual gain in the food index eased to 1.9 percent from 2.1 percent while the index for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials continued to register negative annual rate of 4.2 percent from -6.5 percent. The indices of chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats, machinery and transport equipment and miscellaneous manufactured articles retained their last month’s corresponding rates of 2.0 percent, 3.7 percent and 4.2 percent.
By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month
Measured from a month ago level, the GRPI for all items in NCR moved up by 0.1 percent in May. This was the same rate recorded in April.
Price hikes in gravel and sand pushed up the crude materials, inedible except fuels index by 1.3 percent from 0.2 percent.
The manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index grew by 0.5 percent from 0.1 percent due to price add-ons in nails, steel bars, nail clipper, drinking glass, table knife, table spoon and fork.
Price increases in chicken, beef, pork, evaporated milk, condensed milk, butter, selected fish species, fruits and vegetables effected the 0.1 percent growth in the heavily-weighted food index. This was however, slower than the 0.4 percent gain last month.
Upward price adjustments in liquors and wines including softdrinks and selected cigarettes pulled up the beverages and tobacco index by 0.3 percent.
Selected medical and pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, soap and other washing and cleaning compounds were priced higher during the month. Thus, the chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats index rose 0.1 percent.
A negative rate of 1.1 percent was still registered in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index as general downward price movements were still noted in gasoline, LPG and kerosene.
The machinery and transport equipment and miscellaneous manufactured articles indices had a zero growth during the month from 0.3 percent in April.
