MORE expensive food items caused the poorest Filipinos to see higher inflation in April, the highest in 10 months, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). April was right in the middle of the Covid-induced lockdowns that paralyzed small businesses and displaced millions of daily wage and informal workers/
In its latest inflation report for the Bottom 30 percent of the population, inflation was at 2.9 percent in April 2020, with inflation for the first four months of the year averaging 2.5 percent.
Inflation experienced by the poorest Filipinos last month was the highest since June 2019 when inflation was at 3.1 percent. Inflation in April was higher than the 2.4 percent recorded in March 2020 but slower than the 3.1 percent posted in April 2019.
“Inflation for food at the national level picked up by 2.2 percent in April 2020. In the previous month, its annual rate was observed at 1 percent, and in the same month in 2019, 2.4 percent,” PSA said.
Food inflation for the Bottom 30 percent of the population was the highest since May 2019 when inflation was at 2.8 percent.
For food and non-alcoholic beverages, inflation was at 2.3 percent in April 2020, also the highest since May when it was at 2.7 percent.
PSA data showed that on a month-on-month basis, the prices of food products not elsewhere classified, which increased 5.4 percent month-on-month, were the highest among food items, followed by vegetables and corn at 4.8 percent, fruits at 2.4 percent, and rice at 1.6 percent.
Other commodities that posted higher price increases were health-related items at 3.6 percent and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services at 2.7 percent.
The inflation for health was the highest since July 2019 when it was at 3.7 percent while the rate for restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services was the highest since September when it was at 2.8 percent.
Metro Manila
Meanwhile, the poorest Filipinos living in the National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila saw inflation slow further to 1.7 percent in April 2020.
Inflation for the Bottom 30 percent households in NCR was the slowest since November when inflation averaged 0.9 percent.
The annual rate in Metro Manila in March 2020 was 1.9 percent, and in April 2019, it was 2.9 percent.
However, food prices reached 3.1 percent in April 2020. This was slower than the 3.2 percent in March but higher than the 2.8 percent posted in April 2019.
Meanwhile, in Areas Outside of NCR (AONCR), inflation for the poorest reached 2.9 percent in April 2020, the highest since June when inflation at 3.1 percent.
Inflation in AONCR in March 2020 was registered at 2.4 percent and in April 2019, at 3.1 percent.
PSA said the acceleration in inflation in AONCR was driven by the higher annual upticks observed in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 2.3 percent, the highest since May 2019 when it was at 2.6 percent.
Food inflation alone averaged 2.2 percent in April 2020, the highest since the 2.5 percent increase posted in May 2019.
Another contributor to higher inflation is health which averaged 3.6 percent, the highest since July when it averaged 3.7 percent.
Other items that contributed to higher prices were communication, with inflation reaching 0.4 percent and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services at 2.9 percent.
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