Cebu province’s July inflation eases but still in double digits

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Like most parts of the Philippines, Cebu province saw its headline inflation for July decelerate, according to data from state statisticians.

However, the rate is still within double digits.

For July, inflation or the general increase of prices of basic goods and commodities in the province slowed down to 10.9 percent from 12.4 percent last June.

But it remained sharply elevated compared to the same month last year, when prices in the province actually fell 1 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Thursday, August 13.

Highly urbanized cities

All three highly urbanized cities in the province also posted slower price increases in July.

Cebu City’s inflation eased to 8.4 percent from 9.4 percent in June, Lapu-Lapu City dropped to 5.7 percent from 8.4 percent, and Mandaue City slowed to 6.6 percent from 8.8 percent.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the single biggest contributor to the province’s headline inflation rate.

At the same time, they became dominant driver of the deceleration across the province, accounting for 72.8 percent of Cebu province’s downtrend in inflation, PSA-7 said.

Transport was the second-largest contributor to the easing, followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.

Within the food basket, vegetables and tubers posted the steepest declines relative to June, falling by more than 40 percentage points in both Cebu province and Cebu City.

Fruits and nuts also cooled sharply, particularly in the province (down 29.4 points) and Mandaue City (down 26.2 points).

Fish and other seafood inflation eased across all areas, led by a 21.8-point drop province-wide.

Price of rice increasing

But not all prices of food items cooled.

Rice prices in Cebu City accelerated, rising 20.5 percentage points from June, even as rice inflation eased in the province and in Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue cities.

Oils and fats also ticked up in Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City, while ready-made food products saw more modest movement across all areas.

READ: Inflation eased further to 6.2% in July

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