Northern Mindanao inflation eases further to 4.7% in November 2023

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA) — The overall inflation level in Northern Mindanao further declined to 4.7 percent (%) last month, slower than the 5.8% rate recorded in October and the 7.4% rate in November 2022.

This marks the second straight month of inflation deceleration in the region following two straight months of acceleration.

In a dissemination forum, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-10 officer-in-charge Janith Aves said the regional inflation which measures the rate of increase in the prices of consumer goods and services in Northern Mindanao decelerated by 1.1 percentage points from the recorded inflation rate in October.

She said the major drivers of the deceleration in inflation for November were food and non-alcoholic beverages (from 10.1 percent in October 2023 to 8.6 percent); transport (from 0.6 percent to -0.8 percent); and restaurants and accommodation services (from 4.1 percent to 2.7 percent).

Aves elaborated that the downtrend in the inflation of food and non-alcoholic beverages was due to the slowdown in cereals and cereal products, from 15.9% to 14.2%, with rice as the main source of deceleration.

Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses also contributed to the downtrend, from 19.4% to 13.2%, with eggplant as the top source of deceleration, while meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals dropped from 2.2% to 1.3% with fresh pork as the primary source of deceleration.

“The main sources of the decline in prices in transport were gasoline, with -4.7% inflation from -1.5% in October, and diesel, with -17.5% inflation from -11.2% in October,” she added.

For restaurants and accommodation services, the major source was restaurants, café, and the like, with 2.7% inflation from 4.0% in October.

Aves said the top three commodity groups that contributed to the November 2023 overall inflation were food and non-alcoholic beverages with 77.6% share (8.6% inflation); personal care and miscellaneous goods and services with 4.5% share (5.1% inflation); and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels with 3.8% share (0.9% inflation)

Cushioning the effects of inflation

The government guaranteed to continuously undertake measures to mitigate the effects of inflation.

In a press release, the Department of Finance said President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. issued a directive to implement various measures to ensure the affordability of rice prices and to protect consumers after lifting the price ceiling in October.

Intensified investments in flood control infrastructures and post-harvest facilities will also be undertaken to stabilize the supply of key agriculture commodities.

These efforts, accordingly, will complement the implementation of the El Niño Mitigation and Adaptation Plan, and the expedition of the government’s responses to mitigate the impact of calamities and natural disasters.

Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the region assured it would continue to conduct strict price monitoring to ensure compliance of retailers to suggested retail prices of basic goods and prime commodities.

The monitoring is conducted regularly by local price coordinating councils across the region to prevent retailers from trying to jack up prices and victimize unwary consumers.

DTI recently released a price guide outlining price ranges for ham, keso de bola, fruit cocktail, cheese, sandwich spread, all-purpose cream, mayonnaise, pasta, elbow macaroni, salad macaroni, spaghetti sauce, and tomato sauce in light of the yuletide season. (APB/PIA-10)