Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 5) — The rate of price increases accelerated anew in August, blamed on a series of fuel price hikes and recent typhoons that affected vegetable supplies, a government official said Tuesday.
During a briefing, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the inflation rate went up to 5.3 % after a six-month downtrend.Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the rate was faster last month than the 4.7% posted in July.August’s inflation rate is within the 4.8% to 5.6% forecast range of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for the month.Inflation in the National Capital Region also climbed to 5.9% from July’s 5.6%. In areas outside the capital, the rate also jumped to 5.2% from 4.4% in July.Central Luzon had the highest inflation rate in August at 7% from 5.2% in July, while Eastern Visayas had the lowest rate at 3.1%.Twelve regions saw inflation rise in August, while only two had cooler inflation printMapa attributed this uptrend to the higher year-on-year increase in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 8.1% in August, coupled with the jump in transport at 0.2% from a decline of -4.7% a month prior.Agricultural products, including rice, were the main contributor to the acceleration, Mapa said.“‘Yung vegetables in particular, kapag may typhoons bumababa ang supply. Nagkakaron tayo ng temporary shock sa prices ng vegetables. That happened in last week of July dahil binaha ang ibang parts ng bansa, lalo na sa Region 3,” he said.[Translation: When there are typhoons the supply, vegetables in particular, decreases. We are experiencing a temporary shock in the prices of vegetables. That happened in the last week of July because other parts of the country were flooded, especially in Region 3.]Mapa also noted higher rice inflation in the period. Asked about the impact of the price ceiling imposed by the government starting Tuesday following the price surge, Mapa said the PSA may record if there are changes in rice prices by Sept. 17 or 18.
READ: Gov’t to offer aid as rice traders lament losses due to price ceiling
Another threat to inflation is the continuous rise in oil prices, Mapa said.
