GENERAL SANTOS CITY (PIA) -- The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Sarangani Provincial Statistical Office says inflation rate in General Santos jumped 7.9% in August this year, up by 0.2% from July’s 7.7% and is way higher than the 5.5% from the same month a year ago.

This, the PSA reported during a press conference here Monday (Sept. 12) on the August 2022 Inflation for Sarangani and General Santos City.

PSA XII Regional Director Atty. Maqtahar Manulon, in his message, described inflation as “very important topic to know so that we can monitor the movement of prices that might affect the citizens, our colleagues, and our kababayan in the province.”

He said that through (this) dissemination activity, PSA will be able to provide accurate information regarding the price situation if it has moved drastically or stayed the same.

Manulon, however, said that inflation “would really be dependent on the input or the movement of commodities in the international market.”

Welcoming participants to the press conference, PSA SarGen Provincial Statistics Officer Ismael Ramos Jr. cited the importance of understanding how inflation works and its overall impact to the people in general.

In his report, Ramos said that inflation is equivalent to annual rate of change on the prices of goods and services in the market.

He said General Santos City inflation has risen to 7.9% in August this year, higher than the 6.6% regional and 6.3% national levels inflation.

“The August average inflation, however, for all items from January to August 2022 stood at 6.2%,” he said, adding that the rest of the commodity groups in his report have maintained their inflation rates status from previous month.

According to him, the upward trend was caused by the increased growth rate in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages that peaked at 9.2% in August from 8.5% in July.

This is followed, he said by alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 9.1% from 8.7%; housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 7.6% from 6.3%; and clothing and footwear at 3.4% from 2.4%.

Ramos cited one top source for the acceleration of inflation-- the food and non-alcoholic beverages group—comprising vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses (8.1%), cereals and cereals products (8.4%), and sugar, confectionery, and desserts (22.6%).

He said that food inflation while low in August last year at 3.8%, surged further in the same month this year to 9.6 percent due to the leap in core prices of basic commodities like food, beverages, and even clothing.

For food group— top contributors to the August 2022 inflation hike include commodities like cereals and cereal products at 8.4%; cereals, 6.9%; rice, 7.1%; corn, 2.0%; flour, bread, and other bakery products, pasta and other cereals, 12.7%; meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, 17.2%; fruits and nuts, 11.6%; and sugar, confectionery, and desserts which also escalated to 22.6% high.  

Ramos also noted that annual indices or change in price in the transport sector slowed down attributing this to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

In Sarangani Province, inflation rose 7.4% in August this year as compared to 6.3% in the same period last year, the highest recorded for the year and higher than the region’s inflation rate of 6.6% and the country’s 6.3% in the same month this year.

Noting that the “average inflation for January to August 2022” in the province down at 4.8%, PSA Sarangani Supervising Statistical Specialist Marifi De Asis disclosed that the August 2021 inflation was at 6.3% low.

She said the top three accelerators that have ignited inflation hike in the province in August are food and non-alcoholic beverages with 9.0% from 7.1% in July this year; housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 5.2% from 4.5%; the indices in health which soared 3.8%; alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 11.8%; household furnishings and equipment, 2.9%; and recreational sports/culture at 2.4%.

De Asis said the rise in prices for the goods and services for food and non-alcoholic beverages group impacted the rapid soar of inflation rate in August this year, noting that food inflation further grew to as much as 9.3% in the same month from 7.5% in July and 7.4% from August of 2021.  

PSA also recorded lower price changes for clothing and footwear; transport; information and communication; restaurants and accommodation; personal care; and other miscellaneous goods and services in Sarangani for August this year. (CTA/PIA SarGen)