BUTUAN CITY: The Philippine Statistics Authority in the Caraga (PSA-13) reported a slight increase in headline inflation in the region in April.
In a report on Friday, PSA-13 said the region’s inflation rate was 3.4 percent last month, compared to 3.0 percent in March.
However, the April 2024 inflation rate was lower than the 6.2 percent rate in the same period last year.
“Among the 13 commodity groups, the main driver to the uptrend of the overall inflation in April 2024 was primarily influenced by the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 7.4 percent from 6.3 percent in March 2024,” the PSA-13 report said.
The fast annual growth rate of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, at minus 3.6 percent in April 2024 from minus 4.1 percent in the previous month, also contributed to the rise of overall inflation in the region.
“In addition, a higher inflation rate was also noted in the information and communication index at 1.7 percent during the month from 1.6 percent in March 2024,”
the PSA-13 said.
Lower inflation rates were reported in other commodities, which include alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 3.8 percent from 5.9 percent in the previous month; clothing and footwear at 3.1 percent from 4.0 percent; and furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance at 2.5 percent from 2.7 percent.
Similarly, reduced inflation rates in April this year were recorded in recreation, sport, and culture at 4.9 percent from 6.0 percent in March; restaurants and accommodation services at 2.3 percent from 2.8 percent; and personal care and miscellaneous goods and services at 4.6 percent from 4.7 percent.
“The indices of the rest of the commodity groups retained their respective previous month’s annual growth rates, including health at 1.3 percent, transport at 0.2 percent, education services at 1.7 percent, and financial Services at -0.3 percent,” PSA-13 said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
