Inflation rate in Ilocos Region down to 3.6%

By Hilda Austria 

MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – The inflation rate in the Ilocos Region has decreased from 4.3 percent in June to 3.6 percent in July, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Ilocos regional office.
    PSA Ilocos regional director lawyer Sheila de Guzman, in a statement on Tuesday, said the slower inflation in Ilocos Region in July was primarily influenced by the decrease in inflation in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 1 percent, and food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.3 percent, both sharing, while transport was recorded at -9.1 percent.
    She said lower annual increments in the indices of restaurants and accommodation; clothing and footwear; health; personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services; furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance; and recreation, sport, and culture were observed.
    Meanwhile, inflation rates in alcoholic beverages and tobacco went up to 9.2 percent in July and the rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s inflation rates or had zero percent annual growths.
    The food index in the Ilocos Region decreased to 6.5 percent in July from 7.3 percent in the previous month.
Pangasinan posted the highest inflation rate at 4.6 percent in July followed by Ilocos Sur and La Union, both at 2.3 percent, and Ilocos Norte at 2.1 percent, de Guzman said. -- PNA