Manila: The headline inflation in Western Visayas for June this year remained at 6.8 percent, similar to its growth recorded in May, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday. PSA Western Visayas Regional Director Nelida Amolar noted that this steady rate resulted in an average inflation of 4.8 percent for the first half of the year in the region.
According to Philippines News Agency, the primary contributors to the 6.8 percent inflation rate included food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport, and restaurants and accommodation services. Food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for a 36.3 percent share or 2.47 percentage points, transport had a 21.6 percent share or 1.47 percentage points, and restaurants and accommodation services contributed a 12.5 percent share or 0.85 percentage points. Despite these pressures, other sectors recorded lower inflation in June.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages saw a slight deceleration to 5.6 percent from 5.7 percent in May, transport reduced to 16.2 percent from 20.5 percent, and restaurants and accommodation services decreased to 16.6 percent from 17.2 percent. However, seven out of the 13 monitored basic commodity groups in the region experienced higher inflation rates.
These groups included alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 9 percent, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 3.8 percent, health at 4.7 percent, information and communication at 1.4 percent, recreation, sports and culture at 7.5 percent, education services at 9.1 percent, and personal care and miscellaneous goods and services at 4.3 percent. Meanwhile, the inflation rates for clothing and footwear, furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance, and financial services remained constant at 3.7 percent, 6.1 percent, and 0 percent, respectively.
In her report, Amolar highlighted that while the headline inflation rate remained steady, the inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent income households in the region rose to 8.1 percent from 7.7 percent in May. This rate reflects the price movement of commodities typically purchased by low-income groups. The significant contributors to this upward trend were housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at a 6.7 percent inflation rate, food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.8 percent, and education services at 11.6 percent.
