General wholesale prices of major commodities in the Philippines posted negative growth for the eighth consecutive month in June 2015.
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed that the General Wholesale Price Index (GWPI) posted a contraction of 3.7 percent in June 2015.
The GWPI has been on the decline since November 2014, at a contraction of 0.4 percent but peaked in January 2015, when the GWPI posted a negative growth of 6.4 percent.
“The downward trend was attributed to the drops in the annual rates of crude materials, inedible except fuels index at -3.8 percent and in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index, -26 percent,” the PSA explained.
Apart from these commodities, the PSA said the machinery and equipment index also slowed to 1.8 percent during the month.
However, the GWPI is moving toward a positive growth trajectory on the back of higher increases in the food index at 4.5 percent and the chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats index, 2.9 percent.
There were also increases in the growth of the GWPI of manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials at 2.5 percent and the miscellaneous manufactured articles index, 2.1 percent.
By region, PSA data showed that the largest drop in GWPI was in Luzon with a negative growth of 4.2 percent in June.
In the past eight months Luzon also posted the highest declines in GWPI compared to the Visayas and Mindanao.
Luzon posted a decline of 0.8 percent in October 2014, and the lowest was also in January 2015, at a contraction of 7.2 percent.
Data showed that the GWPI in the Visayas and Mindanao posted contractions of 1 percent and 2.1 percent in June 2015, respectively.
The GWPI in the Visayas posted the largest decline in February 2015, at a contraction of 2.4 percent, while the lowest in Mindanao was in January and March, when the GWPI posted a negative growth of 3 percent.
The GWPI is a vital guide in economic analysis and policy formulation, and is used as basis for price adjustments in business contracts and projects. It also intended to serve as an additional source of information for comparison in the international front.
Specifically, wholesale price statistics are used as a deflator to express value series in real terms, which is measuring the change in actual volume of transaction by removing the effects of price changes; and a basis for forecasting business and economic conditions.