Various brands of rice that are sold at the Carbon Public Market. | CDN Digital File Photo/Niña Mae Oliverio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The inflation rate in Central Visayas for September 2024 has slowed to 2.1 percent, down from 3.4 percent in August, according to PSA-7 on Thursday.
In the inflation report presented by Engineer Felixberto Sato Jr., PSA-7 chief statistical specialist, the main drivers of the deceleration were the declining inflation in prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages (2.0 percent from 5.8 percent), restaurants and accommodation services (2.1 from 3.7 percent), which saw slower year-on-year growth, and furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance (1.5 from 2.5 percent).
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The top three contributors to September’s inflation were the following commodity groups: housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels with 52.6 percent share; food and non-alcoholic beverages with 37.0 percent share; and restaurants and accommodation services with 9.1 percent share.
Top 5 contributors to September inflation
Meanwhile, the top five contributors to last month’s inflation were rentals, rice, restaurant services, pork, and liquefied hydrocarbons.
Inflation refers to the rate of price increase over a specific period of time which is also equivalent to a decline in the purchasing power of the peso.
All provinces in Central Visayas, including Negros Oriental and Siquijor, posed a lower inflation rate for the last month.
Cebu has recorded 0.7 percent inflation rate from 3.0 in August; Bohol logged 1.6 percent from 2.1 percent; Negros Oriental logged 1.5 percent from 2.7 percent; and Siquijor recorded 2.6 percent from 3.1 percent in August.
READ MORE: Philippine inflation slows to 1.9% in September 2024
Moreover, the food inflation in Central Visayas also decreased to 2.1 percent in September 2024 from 6.2 percent in August.
The deceleration of the food inflation was mainly due to the slower inflation rate of rice with 5.4 percent in September 2024 from 13.0 percent in August; corn with 0.9 percent from 30.6 percent; and vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses with 9.3 percent from 6.9 percent in August.
Although rice showed a slower inflation rate, it is still among the top inflation contributors for September.
Rice prices expected to decline, says DA-7
According to an officer from the Department of Agriculture here (DA-7), the agency is expecting a decline in the prices of rice in the following months as the harvest season starts.
Elvin Milleza, an officer from the planning division of DA-7 who was present virtually in the conference on Thursday, said that the harvest season had started in October.
Aside from that, Milleza also attributed this to the rice tariff which slashed the tariff of imported rice from 35 to 15 percent.
“Maybe some imported rice will be coming in at lower prices. According to our estimates, mopadayon pa ni ang (this will still continue, the)decline up to the first quarter of next year kay (because) I think more supply will be coming even from the other regions and our importation from the other countries,” Milleza said.
He added that the region would be expecting a continued decline of rice prices in the coming months.