ILOILO CITY – Living in Western Visayas remains expensive for three consecutive months now.
The inflation rate – rate of increase in prices over a given period of time – in Western Visayas went up by 0.7 percent to 6.9 percent last month, higher than the 6.4 percent national average, the 6.2 percent in June, and the 3.7 percent in July last year, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
The biggest contributing factor in the highest inflation rate in Western Visayas so far this year is the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for transportation which is higher by 0.8 percent from 16.5 percent in June to 17.3 percent the following month.
Due to the increase in transportation expenses, prices of food also went up by 1.5 percent to 9.1 percent in July from 7.6 percent in June.
All six provinces in Western Visayas registered higher inflation rate in July, with Guimaras topping at 8.7 percent and Iloilo the lowest at 5.3 percent.
The regional capital Iloilo City had the highest inflation rate among localities at 8.9 percent. Inflation rate in Bacolod City went down to 4.2 percent from 5.1 percent in June.