Caraga’s headline inflation rises to 3.6% in February

BUTUAN CITY – The headline inflation rate in Caraga Region rose to 3.6 percent in February from 3.3 percent in January, driven largely by higher food, housing, and transport costs, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA-13) said Wednesday.

In a report, the PSA-13 stated that last month’s inflation was mainly caused by the rapid price hike in the food and non-alcoholic beverages category, which rose to 2.4 percent from 2.1 percent the previous month.

“The upward trend in food prices was largely driven by rice, which showed a slower rate of decline, easing from -5.6 percent in January to -1.8 percent in February as local market prices gradually increased,” the PSA-13 said.

The second factor that contributed to last month’s high inflation was the housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels category, which experienced a 7.1 percent inflation rate, rising from 6.6 percent in January.

“The group’s high inflation last month was mainly driven by electricity, which rose to 7.0 percent from 6.0 percent; fuel wood, which increased to 5.9 percent from 4.7 percent; and actual rentals for housing, which edged up to 8.6 percent from 8.5 percent,” the agency said.

The PSA-13 also identified inflation in the transport category as the third factor, with inflation reaching up to 0.8 percent in February from 0.6 percent in January.

The increase was driven by gasoline, which showed a slower decline, moving from -5.6 percent in January to -4.4 percent in February; diesel, which rose to 0.5 percent from a -3.3 percent drop the previous month; and automotive lubricants, which increased to 6.6 percent from 6.0 percent,” the report noted.

Among the provinces, Agusan del Norte posted the highest inflation at 5.2 percent, up from 4.2 percent in January. Agusan del Sur followed with 3.1 percent from 2.8 percent; Surigao del Sur with 2.1 percent from 1.2 percent; and Dinagat Islands with 4.6 percent from 4.3 percent.

Butuan City recorded a lower inflation rate of 5.4 percent, down from 6.2 percent in January, while Surigao del Norte remained unchanged at 3.2 percent. (PNA)