The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday (Sept. 7) revealed that inflation accelerated at 4.9% last month.
National Statistician Undersecretary Dennis Mapa said in a virtual conference that there are areas that were hard-hit by heavy rains and mobility restrictions.
“Una, may mga areas na naapektuhan dahil sa mga pag-ulan at pangalawa, ang ating issue sa [transportation] cost at higher charges sa delivery,” Mapa said.
According to Mapa, the faster inflation was mainly due to supply issues faced in the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, which has 6.5% inflation and 77.4% to the overall acceleration of inflation in the country.
Annual increases were higher in the indices of the following food groups:
- Corn, 6.6%
- Other cereals, flour, cereal preparation, bread, pasta and other bakery products, 1.8%
- Fish, 12.4%
- Oils and fats, 6.1%
- Vegetables, 13.5%
- Sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery, 1.4%
However, annual increases were slower in the indices of meat at 17.4%, and fruits at 3.9%.
Concurrently, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a public briefing on Tuesday that the inflation has “something to do with the weather”.
“Sunod-sunod iyong ating mga bagyo at tumaas ang presyo ng gulay, at tumaas din ang presyo ng ating isda,” Roque said.
“Tinitingnan na natin at mag-i-implement na rin tayo ng mga patakaran para maparami ang supply, lalung-lalo na ang isda dahil pinakamataas na tumaas ang presyo ay ang isda,” he added. – Report from Naomi Tiburcio / CF – rir
