The consumer price index (CPI) last month edged up 0.09 percent year-on-year, ending nine months of decline, as prices for food, healthcare and miscellaneous items picked up amid improving demand, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
A slump in crude oil prices, previously the main drag on the index, tapered off, but prices are unlikely to return to positive territory in the short term, the statistics agency said.
Cheaper crude oil prices have meant there has been no need to worry about deflation — a decrease in the prices of goods and services that sees the public postponing purchases, leading to a recession — an agency official said.
Photo: CNA
Lower energy prices are favorable for consumers, giving them more leeway to spend on other items, the official said.
“Cheaper fuel prices, practically or theoretically, is not a cause of deflation... It is even less of a concern now that price declines have narrowed,” the official added.
Prices of miscellaneous items reported the biggest advance of 1.05 percent, lifted by strong demand for gold jewelry and personal accessories, the DGBAS report said.
Imports of gold jewelry surged almost twofold from the previous year, Ministry of Finance trade data showed.
Medicine and healthcare costs rose 0.49 percent as clinics and hospitals raised registration and copayment fees, the report said.
Garment prices gained 0.4 percent, while food costs advanced 0.4 percent after a bad harvest last year lowered the comparison bar, the agency said.
Transportation and communications costs fell 1.48 percent year-on-year, even though airline tickets prices soared 21.71 percent to a 20-year high on the back of low supply and capacity, it said.
Education and entertainment costs fell 0.66 percent from a year earlier as local hotels cut prices to attract customers, it added.
Seasonally adjusted CPI increased 0.35 percent, while core CPI — a more reliable long-term price tracker, as it excludes volatile items — rose 0.78 percent, lending support to stable consumer prices, the agency said.
The wholesale price index (WPI), a measure of production costs, fell 6.22 percent year-on-year, up from a revised 7.41 percent decline a month earlier, the DGBAS said.
Export and import prices of petrochemical and mineral products continued to fall, but base metal prices picked up, it said.
In the first 11 months of the year, the CPI fell 0.26 percent, while the WPI fell 8.07 percent, it added.
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