Philippines: Wholesale prices growth accelerates in June
MANILA, Philippines — Wholesale prices of goods picked up at a faster rate in June from the previous month, with fuel and food posting the biggest increases, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
According to the PSA, the annual growth rate of the General Wholesale Price Index (GWPI) in the country went up to nine percent in June from 7.9 percent in May. This is also faster than the 2.2 percent growth in June last year.
The GWPI measures the changes in prices in wholesale trade and serves as a basis for price adjustments in business contracts and projects.
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials posted the biggest annual increment of 59.9 percent in June from 57.5 percent in May.
The index for food also had a double-digit annual increase at 11.4 percent in June from 8.8 percent in May.
Other commodity groups with higher price growth are beverages and tobacco at 7.4 percent in June from 6.6 percent in May, and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials at 8.8 percent in June from the previous month’s 7.9 percent.
Meanwhile, slower price upticks were seen in crude materials, inedible except fuels at 8.4 percent in June from 9.2 percent in May, and chemicals including animal and vegetable oils and fats at 5.9 percent in June from 6.6 percent in the previous month.
Miscellaneous manufactured articles saw an annual decrease of 0.6 percent in June from the 1.7 percent growth in May.
As for machinery and transport equipment, it retained its previous month’s annual growth rate of 1.4 percent in June.
For the first six months, the GWPI at the national level averaged 7.2 percent, higher than the 2.5 percent in the same period last year.
Following the trend at the national level, GWPI in Luzon moved up at a faster pace of 9.4 percent in June from 8.4 percent in May.
PSA said the uptrend in Luzon’s GWPI was due to upticks recorded in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials; food; manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials; and beverages and tobacco.
In the Visayas, the growth in GWPI rose further to 5.2 percent from 4.4 percent.
As for Mindanao, growth in GWPI went up to 4.6 percent from 3.6 percent due to the increase in food and beverages and tobacco.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2022/09/27/2212420/wholesale-prices-growth-accelerates-june