Tacloban City’s inflation rate slows down at 4.2 percent in March 2023

Tacloban City’s inflation rate slightly decreased at 4.2 percent in March 2023 from 4.3 percent in February 2023. Tacloban City’s inflation rate during the same period last year was lower at 3.2 percent. The gap between Tacloban City and Leyte’s inflation rate has narrowed after the decrease of Leyte’s inflation rate in March 2023. Among all the provinces and HUC in the region, only Northern Samar, Western Samar, and Biliran manifested an increase in their respective inflation rates in March 2023.

The slight decrease in Tacloban City’s inflation rate during the reference period was mainly due to the deflation recorded on Transport at 0.6 percent from an inflation rate of 4.6 percent in February 2023 caused by the decrease in prices of Fuels and Lubricants for Personal Transport Equipment. Moreover, Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels likewise recorded a deflation of 1.4 percent in March 2023 from an inflation rate of 0.2 percent in February 2023 due to the faster rate of decrease in prices of Electricity, the decrease in prices of Gas, and the slower rate of increase in prices of Liquid Fuels. Furthermore, the inflation rate of Recreation, Sport and Culture decreased at 1.6 percent in March 2023 from 1.8 percent in February 2023 due to the slower rate of increase in prices of Garden Products, Plants and Flowers and Stationery and Drawing Materials.

On the other hand, five (5) major commodity groups recorded an increase in their respective inflation rates in March 2023. Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages recorded an increase at 10.6 percent in March 2023 from 8.4 percent in February 2023 due to the faster rate of increase in prices Cereals and Cereal Products, Fish and Other Seafood, Fruits and Nuts, Sugar, Confectionery and Desserts, Coffee and Coffee Substitutes, Cocoa Drinks, and Soft Drinks. Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco posted an increase at 6.5 percent in March 2023 from 5.7 percent in February 2023 due to the faster rate of increase in prices of Tobacco. Health recorded a slight increase at 1.6 percent in March 2023 from 1.5 percent in February 2023 caused by the faster rate of increase in prices of Medicines and Diagnostic Imaging Services and Medical Laboratory Services. Likewise, Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services recorded an increase at 3.2 percent in March 2023 from 2.9 percent in February 2023 due to the faster rate of increase in prices of Other Appliances, Articles and Products for Personal Care and Hairdressing Salons and Personal Grooming Establishments. Furthermore, Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance recorded an inflation rate of 0.1 percent in March 2023 from a deflation of 0.4 percent in February 2023 caused by the faster rate of increase in prices of Furniture, Furnishings and Loose Carpets, Small Household Appliances, and Domestic Services and Household Services.

Meanwhile, five (5) major commodity groups maintained their inflation rates from their previous months’ rate. These are Clothing and Footwear with 0.2 percent; Information and Communication also with 0.2 percent, Education Services with 1.0 percent; Restaurants and Accommodation Services with 2.6 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 March 2023 was 116.8. This implies that the average retail price of goods and services in Tacloban City is 16.8 percent higher than the average retail prices in 2018 (base year). 

Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) increases at 86 centavos in March 2023 

The Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) in Tacloban City increased at 86 centavos in March 2023 from 85 centavos in February 2023. Meanwhile, the PPP in Leyte also increased at 84 centavos during the reference month from 83 centavos in February 2023. 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. SHERYL ANN A JAMISOLA
Chief Statistical Specialist