ILOILO CITY – The inflation rate in Western Visayas went up for the second straight month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

A STALL at La Paz Public Market in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap)
The PSA-6 said the region logged a 6.6 percent inflation rate in September, up 0.5 percent from 6.1 percent in August.
“The uptrend in the headline inflation in September 2023 was influenced primarily by the higher annual increase in the heavily weighted index of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 10.5 percent in September, from 8.7 percent in August 2023,” said Nelida Amolar, PSA-6 officer-in-charge and chief statistical specialist.
Other factors were the increasing cost of transportation, education, and health services.
Western Visayas still has a higher inflation rate than the national average of 6.1 percent.
Negros Occidental has the highest inflation rate in the region last September at 7.6 percent but was 0.3 percent lower than August with 7.9 percent.
The island-province of Guimaras logged the lowest inflation rate in the region last month at 5.2 percent but it was up 1.1 percent compared to August with 4.1 percent.
Antique had a 6.5 percent inflation rate last month, 6.5 percent in Iloilo, 6.4 percent in Bacolod City, 6.3 percent in Iloilo City, and 6.2 percent in Capiz.