Monday, January 27, 2014

STATEMENT OF SECRETARYSONNY COLOMA ON CONSUMER PRICES

Government continues to monitor prices of food and other basic commodities to protect consumers, especially those living in calamity-affected areas, from unjustified price increases.

In the calamity-affected areas, government is restoring  supply lines disrupted by typhoon Yolanda and the earthquake to stabilize prices of food items and eventually bring these back to pre-disaster levels. 

As noted by NEDA, December prices are seasonally high, due to Christmas spending.  Hence, NSO reported that headline inflation for the whole country increased from 3.3 percent in November 2013 to 4.1 per cent in December 2013.  In areas outside of the NCR (including Eastern and Central Visayas), headline inflation were even higher at 3.8 percent in November 2013 and 4.6 per cent in December 2013.

It must be pointed out, however, that year-to-date headline inflation rate for the entire country as of December 2013 was 3 per cent, or at the low end of the 3-5 per cent annual inflation projections of the government’s Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).###