NAVAL, Biliran -- The Province of Biliran started the year with an inflation rate (IR) of 4.6%. This figure is higher by 2.0 percentage points compared to its IR of 2.6% in December 2021. It is also higher by 2.8 percentage points than its IR of 1.8% in January 2021.

Moreover, the provincial IR in January 2022 is higher by 1.6 percentage points compared to the national IR (3.0%) but lower by 0.6 percentage point than the regional IR (5.2%).

Majority of the commodity groups of CPI observed lower IR in January 2022. These groups are the alcoholic beverages and tobacco; clothing and footwear; housing, water, gas, electricity and other fuels; furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; health; recreation, sport, and culture; restaurants and accommodation services; and personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services.

Meanwhile, there are two (2) groups which posted higher IR including the food and non-alcoholic beverages, and transport. The rest of the groups reported sustained IR.

Of the 13 commodity groups, financial services set the highest IR with a sustained IR of 62.4%. This was followed by the housing, water, gas, electricity and other fuels group with a slower rate of 8.9% and by the food and non-alcoholic beverages with a faster rate of 5.6%. The information and communication group posted the least rate with a deflation of 0.1% while the education services group reported a 0.0% IR.

Moreover, food and non-alcoholic beverages group reported an IR of 5.6% in January 2022 which is higher by 4.5 percentage points than the IR of 1.1% in December 2021. This resulted from the increases noted in most items under the group ranging from 0.1 percentage points to 14.1 percentage points.

Rice, the central commodity of the Filipinos, still recorded a deflation in January 2022 but slightly higher by 0.5 percentage point than its deflation of 6.9% in December 2021. However, it is lower by 5.3 percentage points compared to its deflation of 1.1% in January 2021.

Non-food category in general observed slightly lower IR by 0.2 percentage points from 3.9% in December 2021 to 3.7% in January 2022. This resulted from the decreases in the IR of most of the commodity groups under it ranging from 0.1 percentage points to 0.6 percentage points.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in January 2022 was recorded at 112.5%. This implies that the average level of prices of consumer goods and services purchased by households in January 2022 was higher by 12.5% compared with the prices in 2018. In addition, the provincial CPI in December 2021 is higher by 0.2 percentage point and 0.8 percentage point than the regional CPI of 112.3 and national CPI of 111.7, respectively.

Majority of the commodity groups recorded sustained CPI levels in January 2022. These groups are the furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; health; information and communication; recreation, sport and culture; education services; restaurants and accommodation services; financial services; and personal care and miscellaneous goods and services. The rest of the groups posted higher IR which includes the food and non-alcoholic beverages; alcoholic beverages and tobacco; clothing and footwear; housing, water, gas, electricity and other fuels; and transport.

By commodity group, financial services posted the highest CPI with a sustained level of 162.4. This was followed by the food and non-alcoholic beverages, and transport with a CPI level of 117.2 and 117.0, respectively. In contrast, the information and communication group recorded the least CPI at a sustained level of 101.8.

In general, the CPI of the food and non-alcoholic beverages group was higher by 8.7 percentage points, from 108.5 to 117.2. This can be attributed to the increases in the CPI levels in most items under the group ranging from 0.6 percentage point to 27.0 percentage points.

In addition, fish and other seafood under the aforementioned group recorded the higher CPI with an increased level of 150.5, followed by fruits and nuts which also recorded a higher CPI level of 142.9. Rice, on the other hand, posted the least CPI of 91.6.

Non-food category reported a CPI level of 108.5 in January 2022 which is 0.2 percentage point higher than the CPI of 108.3 in December 2021. Most commodity groups under this category exhibited sustained IR. The Financial Services group posted the highest CPI of 162.4 followed by the transport group with a CPI 117.0.

The price changes reflected in the CPI caused the value of the national currency in Biliran to have a value of P0.89. This PPP implies that the goods and services worth P89 in 2018 is now worth P100 in January 2022. (PSA Biliran)