MALASIQUI: The inflation rate in the Ilocos Region slightly slowed down to 2.3 percent in May this year from 2.4 percent in April, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The decrease was influenced by the drop in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages from 6.7 percent to 6.6 percent; alcoholic beverages and tobacco from 5 percent to 4.4 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels from -5.6 percent to -6.1 percent; and furnishings, household equipment, and routine maintenance from 8.8 percent to 3.7 percent, according to PSA Ilocos Region Director Sheila de Guzman during a virtual forum on Tuesday.
She said the food index’s inflation in the region decreased to 6.8 percent in May as compared to 6.9 percent in April this year.
The main contributors to the decline in the inflation of the food index in the region are cereals and cereal products, which decreased from 21.6 percent to 21 percent; flour, bread, other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals from 5.5
percent to 5.4 percent; fish and other seafood from -1.2 percent to -2.2 percent; and milk, other dairy products, and eggs from 0.3 percent to -0.5 percent.
However, De Guzman said inflation in clothing and footwear increased to 4 percent from 3.9 percent; health from 2.1 percent to 2.2 percent; transport from 1.5 percent to 2.1 percent; and recreation, sports, and culture from 0.7 percent to 1.1 percent.
‘Meanwhile, the other indices such as information and communication, education services, restaurants and accommodation services, financial services, personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services maintained their April’s inflation rate,’ she said.
La Union province recorded the highest inflation rate among the four provinces in the region at 4.0 percent, followed by Pangasinan at 2.6 percent, Ilocos Norte at 2.0, and Ilocos Sur at -0.1 percent.
Source: Philippines News Agency
