THE poorest Filipinos continued to experience some reprieve from high-commodity prices as inflation for the bottom 30 percent slowed year-on-year in November 2019, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Inflation for the poorest Filipinos slowed to 1.7 percent in November 2019 from 8.3 percent in November 2018.
However, November inflation was higher than the 0.8 percent posted in October 2019. This marked the first increase in inflation after five consecutive months of slowdown.
“Inflation for food at the national level rose by 0.4 percent in November 2019. Its annual rate declined by 0.6 percent in October 2019, while it was registered at 8.3 percent in November 2018,” PSA said.
It can be noted that poor households are more sensitive to food price spikes and declines compared to the average Filipino household.
As previously explained by National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa, food is assigned a weight of 39 percent in the basket of goods used for the computation of the inflation. However, in measuring inflation for the poorest, food is assigned a weight of 70 percent.
One of the major components of the food index is rice. In November 2019, rice prices contracted 6.3 percent compared to a growth of 9.7 percent in November 2018.
Further, commodity groupings, such as fuel, light and water (FLW), as well as food, beverage and tobacco (FBT) also saw slower year-on-year inflation.
PSA data showed that FLW grew 0.2 percent in November 2019, slower than the 8.1 percent in November 2018 but faster than the 0.7-percent growth in October 2019.
Data showed that FBT posted growth of 1.6 percent in November 2019. This is slower than the 9.3 percent posted in November 2018 but faster than the 0.6 percent posted in October 2019.
The PSA noted that inflation remained in check despite the uptick in the prices of eggs, 5.8 percent; fish, 6.3 percent; fruits and vegetables, 4.7 percent; meat, 0.8 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 2.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the poorest households living in Metro Manila saw inflation slow to 1.1 percent in November 2019 from 6.2 percent in November 2018. However, inflation was still faster than the 0.2 percent posted in October 2019.
The bottom 30 percent Filipinos living in Areas Outside NCR (AONCR) saw inflation at 1.7 percent in November 2019. This was slower than the 8.3 percent posted in November 2018, but faster than the 0.8 percent posted in October 2019.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes