*r-revised

• Year-on-Year

  Year-on-year inflation rate based on the General Wholesale Price Index (GWPI) went up by 1.5 percentage points to 6.5 percent in March from 5.0 percent in February.

  Higher rates were seen in the prices of food items, 8.6 percent in March from 6.6 percent in February; crude materials, inedible except fuels, 27.4 percent from 19.3 percent; mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials 8.3 percent from 5.1 percent and chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats, 7.6 from 5.2 percent; and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials, 4.9 percent from 4.3 percent. Annual price increases were also seen in beverages and tobacco, machinery and transport equipment and miscellaneous manufactured articles which moved up at their corresponding February rates of 3.3 percent, 2.6 percent and 1.8 percent.

  • Similarly, inflation rate in Luzon advanced to 6.6 percent in March from 5.1 percent in February. Inflation rate for food rose to 8.9 percent from 7.1 percent; crude materials inedible except fuels, 31.2 percent from 22.2 percent; mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, 8.1 percent from 4.5 percent; chemicals including animal oils and fats, 9.4 percent from 6.4 percent; and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials, 4.8 percent from 4.5 percent. On the other hand, annual movement in prices of miscellaneous manufactured articles was slightly slower at 1.1 percent from 1.2 percent. Increase in prices of beverages and tobacco and machinery and transport equipment remained at 1.7 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.

  • Inflation rate in Visayas picked up to 2.0 percent in March from 1.7 percent in February primarily brought about by the 0.5 percentage point increment in the inflation rate of food to 0.8 percent from 0.3 percent. Higher rates were also noted in the prices of beverages and tobacco, 10.8 percent from 10.7 percent; crude materials, inedible except for fuels, 5.1 percent from 3.5 percent; and mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, 9.4 percent from 9.3 percent. While inflation for manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials remained at its last month's rate of 1.1 percent, inflation for the rest of the commodities was zero.

  • In Mindanao, inflation rate jumped to 10.3 percent in March from 7.8 percent in February. Except for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials whose inflation rate still remained at 9.6 percent, all the commodity groups registered higher rates: food, 15.8 percent from 10.6 percent; beverages and tobacco, 7.3 percent from 6.4 percent; crude materials, inedible except fuels, 6.5 percent from 1.7 percent; chemicals including animal and vegetable oils and fats, 3.5 percent from 2.6 percent; manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials 7.8 percent from 5.5 percent; machinery and transport equipment, 5.3 percent from 4.7 percent; and miscellaneous manufactured articles, 10.2 percent from 10.1 percent.

• By Commodity Group, Month-on- Month

  The month-on-month inflation rate for March was posted at 1.2 percent from 0.9 percent in February.

  • Increments in the prices of hogs, beef, pork, milk, cheese, fish, rice, and selected fruits and vegetables raised the food index in Luzon and Mindanao by 0.4 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively. Likewise, upward adjustments in the prices of milk, canned fish, margarine and selected fruits pulled up the food index in Visayas by 0.2 percent. Thus, the national index moved up by 0.9 percent during the month.

  • Add-ons in the prices of liquors in Visayas and Mindanao caused the beverages and tobacco index to pick up by 0.1 percent and 0.8 percent respectively. Prices of beverages and tobacco in Luzon still posted a zero growth this month. The national index moved up by 0.1 percent from 0.0 percent last month.

  • Higher prices of copra, abaca, rattan, sand and gravel mainly effected the 5.9 percent growth in the index of crude materials inedible except fuels in Luzon. Similarly, the increase in the prices of firewood and charcoal pushed up the group's index in Visayas by 1.5 percent. The group's index in Mindanao was also up by 5.2 percent brought about by the acceleration in the prices of bamboo, sand, gravel, stone and adobe blocks. All these factors contributed to the 5.5 percent increment in the national index.

  • Prices of petroleum products were up in Luzon. This caused the index for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials in the Philippines and Luzon to grow by 3.1 percent and 3.5 percent. However, the group's index in Visayas and Mindanao recorded a zero growth from 1.4 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

  • Increased prices of coconut oil in Luzon mainly effected the 2.2 percent growth in its index for chemicals including animal oils and fats. Likewise, the group's index in Mindanao advanced by 1.1 percent due to the upward movement in the prices of paints and insecticides. On the other hand, prices of chemicals including animal oils and fats in Visayas generally remained stable as it still recorded a zero growth during the month. In the Philippines, the group's index jumped by 1.8 percent from 1.1 percent.

  • Upward adjustments in the prices of selected construction materials correspondingly resulted to a 0.6 percent and 2.5 percent increase in the index for manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials in Luzon and Mindanao. However, prices of manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials in Visayas posted a zero growth. Hence, the national index moved up by 0.8 percent, slower than its last month's rate of 0.7 percent.

  • The machinery and transport equipment index in Mindanao rose by 0.8 percent from 1.2 percent as higher prices of electrical fixtures were noted during the month. Meanwhile, prices of machinery and transport equipment in Luzon and Visayas generally remained stable as they registered a zero growth during the month. Hence, the national index moved up by 0.2 percent compared to its last month's rate of 0.1 percent.

  • The miscellaneous manufactured articles index in Mindanao climbed to 0.4 percent from 1.0 percent due to the uptick in the prices of clothing items.

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  Source: National Statistics Office
  Manila, Philippines
  
  Page last revised: June 9, 2004