MARAWI CITY (PIA) -- Lanao del Sur's inflation rate slowed down anew in January 2024, marking the fourth straight month of deceleration since October last year.

A report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) provincial office showed that inflation — which measures the rate of increase in the prices of goods and services — eased to 1.7 percent in the first month of 2024, slower than the 3.2 percent rate in December 2023.

This was the slowest inflation rate in the province since January 2023 when it clocked in at 9.5 percent.

The PSA attributed the slower inflation to a reduced rate in food and non-alcoholic beverages, dropping to 2.5 percent from the previous month's 4.7 percent.

Also contributing to the inflation dip were housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, which experienced a slower annual increase of -2.1 percent during the month, down from -0.9 percent in December 2023.

Other contributors to the easing were restaurant and accommodation services at 7.6 percent; personal care, miscellaneous goods and services at 1.7 percent; recreation, sports and culture at 1.2 percent, and furnishing, household equipment, routine and maintenance of the house at 1.2 percent.

The commodity groups that recorded inflation upticks during the month were clothing and footwear from 3.1 percent to 3.4 percent, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco from 0.8 to 0.9 percent, health from -1.1 to -1.0 percent, and transport from -5.3 to -4.2 percent. 

Meanwhile, education services, financial services, and information and communication retained their previous month’s inflation rates or had zero percent growths.

Lanao del Sur was the second province in the Bangsamoro region that logged the lowest inflation rate in January, next to Basilan at 0.2 percent. Its inflation also remains well below the regional rate of 4.2 percent.

On the other hand, the purchasing power of Peso in the province stands at 0.82 percent, which means that today's P100 can only buy P82 worth of goods. (APB/PIA Lanao del Sur)