HIGH food prices pushed up retail commodity prices in Metro Manila in August, according to the latest General Retail Price Index (GPRI) in the National Capital Region released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday.
The GPRI posted a 3.7-percent growth in August. This was higher than the 3.1-percent year-on-year growth posted in July 2014 and 1.7 percent posted in August 2013.
Retail food prices posted a growth of 7.6 percent in August. This is the highest GPRI growth posted by the food index since the PSA rebased its GPRI index to 2000 in 2009.
Including data that were computed using a 1978 base, the August growth in retail food prices was the highest since April 2008 when the growth recorded was at 9.4 percent.
Other commodities that pushed up retail prices in Metro Manila in August included the beverages and tobacco index which posted a growth of 3.2 percent; manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index, 2.5 percent; and machinery and transport equipment index, 1.1 percent.
The PSA said, however, that annual declines were observed in the indices of crude materials, inedible except fuels at -0.2 percent and in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, -1.3 percent.
On a monthly basis, the GRPI in National Capital Region increased 0.8 percent in August from its July level on the back of higher food prices which recorded a monthly growth of 2.5 percent.
“This was due to price hikes in chicken, eggs, dairy products, selected fish species, rice, corn, fruits, vegetables and animal feeds,” PSA said.
Other commodities that contributed to the uptick were the 0.3-percent growth in manufactured goods classified by materials index; the 0.1-percent increase in the beverages and tobacco index; and 0.1-percent growth in the machinery and equipment index.
The uptick in the materials index was caused by higher prices for construction materials such as lumber, plywood, sand paper, nails and steel bars.
The increase in beverage prices were due to more expensive selected liquors, wines and softdrinks, while the increase in the machinery and equipment index was due to higher prices of electrical lamps and selected wiring devices.