MARAWI CITY (PIA) -- The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in Lanao del Sur announced that the province experienced a 4.5 percent headline inflation rate in March 2024, up from the 2.9 percent recorded in the previous month.
Driving this acceleration were significant increases in pivotal key sectors, specifically Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, which surged to 6.9 percent from 4.6 percent; Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels to -2.3 percent from -3.7 percent; and Transport from -2.9 percent to 0.5 percent.
In the food sector, inflation continued its upward trajectory, reaching 7.0 percent from 4.6 percent in the previous month. The surge was primarily fueled by increases in the indices for vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses; cereals and cereal products; and meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals.
Further contributing to the overall inflation were higher annual increments in indices across various commodity groups such as Information and Communication, Education Services at 0.6 percent; Clothing and Footwear at 4.7 percent; Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco at 3.2 percent; Recreation, Sports, and Culture at 4.0 percent; Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House at 2.7 percent; Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services at 3.4 percent; and Health at 1.8 percent.
Despite the overall inflation surge, the Restaurants and Accommodation Services commodity group experienced a slowdown to 7.3 percent from 9.2 percent.
Education Services and Financial Services retained their previous month's inflation rate.
The province's Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) remained steady at 0.81 in March, the lowest PPP recorded since March 2023.
Meanwhile, the inflation rate in the Bangsamoro region decreased to 5.0 percent compared to 5.3 percent recorded in the previous month.
PSA-BARMM OIC Regional Director Akan Tula attributed the drop in inflation rate to reduced costs of food and non-alcoholic beverages from 6.1 percent to 5.7 percent, accounting for 57 percent of the total deceleration.
Prices for fish and other seafood, meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, eggs, milk, and other dairy products all decreased, contributing to this trend.
Other factors contributing to the slowdown included transportation, restaurant, and accommodation services.(APB/PIA-10 Lanao del Sur)
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