Sunday, May 05, 2024

NorMin inflation eases to 6.4% in April

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The inflation in Northern Mindanao eased for three consecutive months due to slower increases in prices of food, transport, and utilities

In a press conference, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-10 reported that the region’s inflation slowed down to 6.4 percent (%) in April from 7.4% in March, this year.

PSA-10 attributed the slowdown to the deceleration of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages from 10.9% in March to 9.6% in April, sharing 54% of the downtrend.

PSA-X Chief Statistical Specialist Sarah Balagbis said the second driver to the deceleration of the overall inflation was Transport, from 3.5% to 0.6%.

Other contributor was Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels which slowdown from 5.0% to 4.0%.

Transport shared 24.2% of the deceleration while Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels shared 19.4%.

Balagbis said the top contributor to the deceleration of inflation in Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages were fish and other seafood which decelerated to 10.2% from 14.2% in March; vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses, from 22.6% to 17.5%; and meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals from 13.3% to 11.3%.

Rice inflation also decreased from 3.7% to 3.6% while corn inflation slowed down to 9.3%.

Contributing to the deceleration in transport were gasoline with -11.7% from -6.2% inflation in March, as well as, diesel with -17.0% from -5.7% inflation.

On the other hand, the decrease in the inflation of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels was attributed to electricity with -2.6% inflation from -1.3% in March, and LPG with -3.5% from 3.1%.

Inflation rates in all provinces and highly urbanized cities posted also eased. The city of Iligan posted the lowest rate at 4.9% while Camiguin registered the highest at 8.2%. Inflation rates in other areas were Bukidnon at 7.3%, Lanao del Norte at 5.4%, Misamis Occidental at 5.5%, Misamis Oriental at 7.5%, and Cagayan de Oro City at 5.8%.

Balagbis further shared that the purchasing power of the peso in April remains at 0.82 which means that the P100 in 2018 is just worth P82 of goods and services in April 2023.

“Since January this year up to April, nagkahinay ang pagsaka sa prices (the increase in prices is slowing down) and we are hoping that it would continue,” she said.

The chief statistical specialist, meanwhile, called on agencies to work hand-in-hand to reduce the risk and cushion the negative impacts of El Niño on commodity prices. (APB/PIA-10)

Mindanao economy posts 7.2% GRDP growth in 2022

DAVAO CITY – Mindanao has once more demonstrated its worth as a key contributor to the country’s economic growth by posting 7.2 percent Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) last year

In a statement on May 03, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) pointed to the “much-improved peace and order” situation in Mindanao in recent years as one of the main contributing factors to the island region’s economic growth.

Despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, MinDA pointed out that Mindanao has shown resilience and adaptability in its economic activities, thereby attracting more investors and tourists to the area.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), in a separate statement Tuesday, noted Mindanao’s remarkable economic standing in 2022 as only slightly lower than the national GDP of 7.6 percent.

Among the regions in Mindanao, the PSA said Davao Region led the pack with an impressive 8.15 percent growth rate, while Caraga trailed behind at 5.9 percent.

The other expenses in Mindanao—Regions 9, 10, 12, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)—also recorded positive growth rates ranging from 6.59 percent to 7.5 percent.

Still, MinDA chair Maria Belen Acosta said there is still much work to be done to sustain and further accelerate Mindanao’s growth trajectory.

Acosta cited the continued growth of the agriculture and fisheries sectors, the development of the infrastructure and tourism industries, and increasing investments in the region remains as crucial factors for progress in the area.

“Overall, the strong economic performance of Mindanao in 2022 is a promising sign for the region’s future, and it is hoped that this growth will continue in the years to come,” she said. (Che Palicte/PNA)

NorMin logs 8.4% inflation in Jan., ranks 9th in PH

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Northern Mindanao’s inflation rate rose to 8.4% last month, placing the region in the ninth spot nationwide, the regional office of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Feb. 17, 2023

During a media forum here, PSA 10 (Northern Mindanao) Officer-in-Charge Janith Aves said January’s inflation was higher than December 2022’s 7.8 percent and January 2022’s 4.5 percent with food and non-alcoholic beverages mainly accounting for the increase.

“The rise of onion prices was recorded in this period (January 2023) and is one of the major contributors (to the inflation), which was part of the vegetables, tubers, plantains group,” she said.

Under the food and non-alcoholic commodity group, the region’s inflation rate jumped to 12.1 percent, from 7.8 percent in December 2022 and 4.5 percent in January 2022.

Aves said in the region, the provinces of Camiguin and Misamis Oriental registered the highest inflation rate per province with 8.9 percent.

“Camiguin may be the highest for January but it experienced a decrease from its 9.5 percent inflation in December 2022,” she said. Camiguin’s inflation rate in January 2022, however, was 5.3 percent, according to PSA-10 data.

This city has the lowest inflation rate with 8 percent, compared to 8.2 percent in December 2022 and 4.2 percent in January 2022.

Among the 13 main commodity groups where PSA is getting the overall inflation, the financial services sector had zero percent inflation in the region for both January 2023 and December 2022.

Compared to January 2022, the financial services were the highest among the commodity groups with a 45.2 percent inflation rate. (Nef Luczon/PNA)