Prices of goods remained steady nationwide, but increased in the Central Visayas region as indicated by an inflation rate of 5.1%, the highest among the 17 regions in February 2022, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Friday, March 4, 2022.
In a report released Friday, March 4, 2022, the PSA said the Central Visayas inflation rate in February was higher than the 5% in January 2022.
Other regions that showed faster increases were National Capital Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa Region and Bicol Region. The other nine regions posted lower inflation rates.
The second highest regional inflation rate was 5% in Eastern Visayas, although this had decelerated from 5.2% in January. This was followed by Davao Region’s 4.4%, Cordillera’s 4.3% and Northern Mindanao’s 4%.
Headline inflation in the Philippines remained at 3% for the second consecutive month in February. This was lower than the 4.2% posted a year ago in February 2021.
Faster annual increases were observed in the indices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 4.8%; transport, 8.8%; and recreation, sport, and culture at 1.6%.
On the other hand, slowdowns were observed in the indices of the following commodity groups:
Food and non-alcoholic beverages, 1.2%;
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 4.7%;
Clothing and footwear, 1.9%;
Furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 2.3%;
Health, 2.7%;
Information and communication, 0.6%; and
Restaurants and accommodation services, 2.9%.
The rest of commodity groups retained their previous month’s inflation rates.
In Central Visayas, the inflation rate for the food and non-alcoholic beverage index slowed down to 7.9% in February from 10.4% in January. These were the highest regional rates for January and February.
Faster increases were reported in two commodity groups: alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 5.3%; and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 4.6%. (Marites Villamor-Ilano/Ventures Cebu)
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