PSA: Inflation rate in Ilocos region dropped in July

LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte — Inflation rate in the Ilocos region slightly dropped to 6.3 percent in July from 6.5 percent in June, latest report from the regional Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

The PSA report, however, showed that the inflation rate in the region almost doubled from 3.9 percent during the same period last year.

Among the factors that contributed to the region’s inflation rate were transportation at 20.3 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 7.1 percent; and food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.2 percent, the PSA said.

PSA’s report also noted that Ilocos Norte province posted the highest inflation rate at 8.3 percent in July, followed by Ilocos Sur (7.6 percent) and Pangasinan (6.0 percent). La Union province registered the lowest July inflation rate in the region at 4.3 percent.

The consumer price index (CPI), or an indicator of changes in the average retail prices of a fixed basket of common goods and services to which inflation is determined, was at P115.6 in July 2022.

“This means that one needs P115.60 to purchase the same set of goods and services that were worth P100 in 2018,” according to the PSA report.

Meanwhile, the purchasing power of P1 was posted at P0.87 in July, said PSA, adding that the “purchasing capacity of P1 in 2018 has decreased by 13 centavos.”

READ: BSP sees inflation easing in second  half of 2021

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