Inflation rate in Samar Province rises to 7.8 percent in March 2023

     The rate of increase in prices rose to 7.8 percent in March 2023 from the 7.1 percent in February, generating an increase of 0.7 percentage points. (Figure 1) March 2023’s inflation rate (IR) is higher by 3.6 percentage points from the IR in same month of the previous year. A provincial year-todate change of 7.7 percent was recorded from the average rates between January to March 2023. (Table 1)

     The uptrend can be attributed to the higher annul growths in the indices of the following: 1) Food and NonAlcoholic Beverages from 9.2 percent in February to 10.4 percent in March;2) Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services from 6.5 percent in February to 7.4 percent in March; and 3) Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance from 6.7 percent in February to 7.4 percent in March. These commodity groups shared 84.6, 5.9, and 3.2 percent to the increase in IR, respectively.

     Other commodity groups which recorded accelerated growths include: 1) Restaurants and Accommodation Services (11.5%); 2) Health (4.2%); 3) Clothing and Footwear (1.8%); and 4) Recreation, Sport and Culture (1.6%). (Figure 2)

On the contrary, two commodity groups slowed down, namely: Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco with 12.7 percent and Transport with a negative 0.7 percent. (Figure 2)

Samar Province remains second with the highest IR in Eastern Visayas

      Samar Province remains second highest among the six provinces in Eastern Visayas with 7.8 percent inflation rate in March 2023. The highest inflation rate was recorded by Eastern Samar at 10.1 percent, while Northern Samar ranked third with 7.3 percen. Tacloban City, Region VIII’s only highly-urbanized city (HUC), recorded a 4.2 percent IR in the same reference period. (Figure 3)

Purchasing Power of Peso weakens to 0.80 in March

     Samar’s Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) continues to weaken following a series of declines since March 2022. The PPP indicates that a peso in 2018 is worth Php 0.80 (80 centavos) only in March 2023. (Figure 4)

March CPI for All Items escalates to 124.5

     Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Items slightly increased from 123.5 in February to 124.5 in March 2023, indicating that about Php 124.50 is needed by a typical household to buy the same basket of goods and services in the same reference period.

     Further, goods and services are now costly compared to the same month in 2022 based from the 9.0-point gap generated from the indices between March 2022 and the same month of the current year. (Figure 5).

SGD.RIZA N. MORALETA 
Chief Statistical Specialist

TECHNICAL NOTES

Consumer Price Index (CPI) - An indicator of the changes in the average retail prices of a fixed market basket of goods and services commonly purchased by households relative to a base year. 

Uses of CPI - The CPI is most widely used in the calculation of the inflation rate and purchasing power of peso. It is a major statistical series used for economic analysis and as a monitoring indicator of government economic policy. 

Base Period/Year - The reference date or base period is the benchmark or reference date or period at which the index is taken as equal to 100. The current base period is 2018. 

Market Basket - A sample of goods and services purchased for consumption availed by the households in the country selected to represent the composite price behavior of all goods and services purchased by consumers. 

Weight - A value attached to a commodity or group of commodities to indicate the relative importance of that commodity or group of commodities in the market basket.

Formula - The formula used in computing the CPI is the weighted arithmetic mean of price relatives, the Laspeyre’s formula with a fixed base year period (2018) weights. 

Geographic Coverage - CPI values are computed at the national, regional, and provincial levels, and for selected cities. 

Inflation Rate - is the rate of change of the CPI expressed in percent. Inflation is interpreted in terms of the declining purchasing power of peso. 

Purchasing Power of Peso - shows how much the peso in the base period is worth in the current period. It is computed as the reciprocal of the CPI for the period under review multiplied by 100.

SGD.RIZA N. MORALETA 
Chief Statistical Specialist