ARMM Consumer Price Index (as of February 2019)
Consumer Price Index
Figure 2 shows that commodity groups of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, and Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services have the highest corresponding CPIs of 162.4, 133.0 and 123.2 in February 2019. On the other hand, Transport, Communication, and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels have the lowest CPIs of 101.6, 103.2, and 110.7, respectively.
The Province of Sulu recorded the highest CPI in the region in February 2019 at 131.8, as shown in Figure 3. This was followed by Basilan and Maguindanao with CPIs of 129.2 and 124.7, respectively. Figure 3 also shows that Lanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi have the lowest corresponding CPIs of 123.2 and 123.8.
Inflation Rate
Figure 4 shows that the inflation rate of ARMM decelerated to 4.0 percent in February 2019 from the 6.1 percent inflation rate in January 2019. This implies that the average retail prices of goods and services in the market basket in ARMM increased by 4.0 percent in February 2019 compared to the prices in February 2018.
Commodity groups of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, and Health have the highest inflation rates in February 2019 recorded at 13.6 percent, 8.8 percent, and 6.5 percent, respectively. On the other hand, commodity groups of Transport, Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels, and Communication have the lowest corresponding inflation rates of 1.3 percent, 2.2 percent, and 2.3 percent; while the average prices in Education decreased by 4.1 percent in February 2019 (see Figure 5)
It is shown in Figure 6 that Basilan has the highest inflation rate of 9.3 percent in February 2019. This is followed by Tawi-Tawi and Sulu with 8.3 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively. On the other hand, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao recorded the lowest corresponding inflation rates of 1.1 percent and 2.0 percent in the region during the reference period.
Purchasing Power of Peso
Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) is inversely related to inflation rate. Thus, as the inflation rate increases, PPP declines, as shown in Figure 7. In ARMM, PPP is at 0.79 as of February 2019. This is 2.47 percent lower than the average annual PPP in 2018. The 0.79 PPP implies that the Php1.00 in 2012, as the base year, values only Php0.79 in February 2019.