Tacloban City’s inflation rate continually declines at 1.5 percent in June 2023 

Tacloban City’s inflation rate drops further at 1.5 percent in June 2023 from 2.4 percent in May 2023. This is the lowest recorded inflation rate of the City this year. Tacloban City’s inflation rate during the same period last year was higher at 5.8 percent. Likewise, Leyte recorded this month its lowest inflation rate this year at 3.0 percent. Among all the provinces and HUC in the region, only Southern Leyte manifested an increase in its inflation rate in June 2023.

The decrease in Tacloban City’s inflation rate in June 2023 was due to the downtrend in annual rate of change of CPI of eight (8) major commodity groups. Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages recorded a decrease in its inflation rate at 7.2 percent in June 2023 from 8.1 percent in May 2023 which was driven by the slower rate of increase in prices of Cereals and Cereal Products, Meat and Other Parts of Slaughtered Land Animals, Oils and Fats, Fruits and Nuts, Sugar, Confectionery and Desserts, Ready-made Food and Other Food Products, Fruit and Vegetable Juices, and Water. Likewise, Information and Communication recorded a slight decrease in its inflation rate at zero percent in June 2023 from 0.1 percent in May 2023 caused by the slower increase in prices of Equipment for the Reception, Recording and Reproduction of Sound and Vision. Restaurants and Accommodation Services recorded a 2.5 percentage points decrease in June 2023, at 3.4 percent in June 2023 from 5.9 percent in May 2023 due to the slower rate of increase in prices of Restaurants, Café and the Like. Further, Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services registered a decrease in its inflation rate at 2.9 percent in June 2023 from 3.1 percent in May 2023 which was driven by the slower rate of increase in prices of Hairdressing Salons and Personal Grooming Establishments. Moreover, a 0.3 percentage point decrease was recorded in the inflation rates of Health (1.8 percent from 2.1 percent) and Recreation, Sport and Culture (0.9 percent from 1.2 percent). The former was due to the slower rate of increase in prices of Medicines, Medical Products, and Inpatient Curative and Rehabilitative Services while the latter was due to the slower rate of increase in prices of Garden Products, Plants and Flowers, Musical Instruments, and Stationery and Drawing Materials. Meanwhile, Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels and Transport continued to register a deflation of 3.3 percent and 8.0 percent, respectively, in June 2023. The former was due to the faster rate of decrease in prices of Electricity and Liquid Fuels, and the decrease in prices of Water Supply while the latter was driven by the slower rate of increase in prices of Motorcycles, Maintenance and Repair of Personal Transport Equipment, and Passenger Transport by Air, and the faster rate of decrease in prices of Fuels and Lubricants for Personal Transport Equipment.

On the other hand, two (2) major commodity groups recorded an increase in their respective inflation rates in June 2023. Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco recorded an increase at 4.4 percent in June 2023 from 4.1 percent in May 2023 due to the faster rate of increase in prices of Beer and the slower rate of decrease in prices of Wine. Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance recorded a slight increase at 1.5 percent in June 2023 from 1.4 percent in May 2023 caused by the faster rate of increase in prices of Non-durable Household Goods.

Meanwhile, three (3) major commodity groups maintained their inflation rates from their previous months’ rate. These are Clothing and Footwear with 0.3 percent inflation rate; Education Services with 1.0 percent; and Financial Services with zero percent inflation rate.

The inflation rate is the general rise in prices over a period. It indicates how fast or how slow price changes over two-time periods. Contrary to common knowledge, low inflation does not necessarily connote that prices are falling instead; it means that prices continue to increase at a slower rate. It is a derived indicator of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The CPI is a measure of change in the average retail prices of goods and services commonly purchased by a particular group of people in a specific area. The overall CPI in Tacloban City for June 2023 was 116.2. This implies that the average retail price of goods and services in Tacloban City is 16.2 percent higher than the average retail prices in 2018 (base year).

Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) retains at 86 centavos in June 2023 

The Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) in Tacloban City retained at 86 centavos in June 2023. Meanwhile, the PPP in Leyte also retained at 84 centavos during the reference month. The 86 centavos purchasing power of peso in Tacloban City indicates that the same basket of goods and services worth 86 pesos in 2018 (base year) is worth 100 pesos during the reference period.

TECHNICAL NOTES 

Rebasing of the CPI is necessary to ensure that this barometer of economic phenomena is truly reflective of current situation. Consumer taste, fashion and technology change over time causing the fixed market basket of goods and services to become outmoded. To capture such changes for a more meaningful price comparison, revision or updating of the fixed market basket, the sample outlets, the weights and the base year had to be done periodically. 

BASE PERIOD – refers to the reference period of the index number. It is a period at which the index is set to 100. Current base period is 2018. 

MARKET BASKET - refers to a sample of goods and services used to represent all goods and services bought by a particular group of consumers in a particular area. 

WEIGHTS - The weights for the 2018-based CPI were derived from the expenditure data of the 2018 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES). The weight for each item of expenditure is a proportion of that expenditure item to the total national expenditure. The total (all items) national expenditure weights is equal to 100. 

MONITORING OF PRICES - is to establish baseline information for prices of the items in the base year and monitoring of the prices of the items on a regular basis. Except for Food, Beverage and Tobacco which is monitored on a weekly basis in NCR, price collection is done twice a month. First collection phase is done during the first five days of the month while the second phase is on the 15th to 17th day of the month. 

COMPUTING THE CPI - The formula used in computing the CPI is the weighted arithmetic mean of price relatives, a variant of the Laspeyres formula with fixed base year period weights. 

RETAIL PRICE - refers to the actual price at which retailers sell a commodity on spot or earliest delivery, usually in small quantities for consumption and not for resale. It is confined to transactions on cash basis in the free market and excludes black-market prices and prices of commodities that are on sale as in summer sales, anniversary sales, Christmas sales, etc. 

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX – is a measure of change in the average retail prices of goods and services commonly purchased by a particular group of people in a particular area. 

INFLATION RATE – refers to the annual rate of change or year-on-year change in CPI. 

PURCHASING POWER PESO – it is a measure of how much the peso in the base period is worth in another period. It gives as indication of the real value in a given period relative to the peso value in the base period.

SGD. ROMIL C. ALINSUB
Statistical Specialist II
Officer-in-Charge