05 April 2024– Guimaras. The inflation rate in Guimaras province surged to 7.2% in March, marking an increase from the 5.9% recorded a month earlier due to the rapid fluctuation in prices within various food commodity groups, which experienced a 10.8% inflation rate in March 2024 compared to 9.0% the previous month, according to the latest price data released by the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA).

"Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages stand out as the primary drivers of the 7.2% inflation (all items) of Guimaras for March, accounting for 10.3% and a huge share of 68.9% to the inflation trend, which collectively contributed 74.0% to the overall inflation of Guimaras," stated Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare.

“Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels with 1.5% inflation ranked two as the major cause of inflation trend chipping in 15.4% share, while Restaurant and Accommodation Services with 13.7% inflation contributed 9.7% to the March inflation,” Losare added.

Losare also highlighted that Transport (0.8%) inflation imparted 11.8% to the trend, while Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (9.7%) inflation contributed 4.8% to the overall March inflation.

The 10.3% inflation of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages was primarily pushed by Food items, specifically Cereals and cereal products, with a 26.1% inflation, sharing 47.1% to the trend and contributing 54.2% to overall inflation.

“The 1.5% inflation of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels was primarily influenced by the rapid rise in electricity prices with 9.1% inflation. Similarly, the 0.8% inflation in Transport was primarily propelled by a significant price hike in gasoline, which experienced a -0.2% inflation from -7.2% a month ago,” Losare said.

The price statistics results also showed that among the 13 commodity groups, four of which posted a downtrend inflation from February 2024 to March 2024 (Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco; Clothing and Footwear; Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance; and Health). See table 2

Moreover, four of 13 commodity groups posted uptrend inflation from February 2024 to March 2024 (Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages; Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels; Transport; and Restaurants and Accommodation Services), while five commodities showed no movement on their price indices (Information and Communication; Recreation, Sport and Culture; Education Services; Financial Services; and Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services). See table 2

“Inflation Rate is the rate of change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) derived by computing the indices relative to the same period in the previous year or month, and currently, Guimaras Province posted a 133.0 CPI, this indicates that a typical Guimarasnon household needs 1,330.00 pesos in March 2024 to purchase a basket of goods and services worth 1000 pesos in 2018, this is 0.5 and 8.9 percent higher than the 132.5 CPI in February 2024 and 124.1 CPI in March 2023, respectively," Losare clarified.

“The Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) in Guimaras at 0.75 in March 2024 indicates that the one peso in 2018 is now worth 0.75 centavos, recording a devaluation of 0.06 from the 0.81 PPP in March 2023,” Losare added.