TACLOBAN CITY– The Inflation Rate (IR) in Eastern Visayas has declined to 1.8 percent in September 2020, a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA-8) said.
PSA Regional Director Wilma Perante said in an interview that the 1.8 percent IR in the region is 0.5 percentage point lower than the 2.3 percent IR recorded in August 2020.
“The September 2020 IR of the region, however, is higher by 1.9 percentage points compared with the 0.1 percent deflation in the same period last year,” she said.
Perante reported that the regional IR is 0.5 percentage point lower than the 2.3 percent national average in September 2020.
She said that among provinces, Samar posted the highest IR in September 2020 at 5.3 percent. This figure is 1.0 percentage point higher compared with its 4.3 percent IR in August 2020.
Southern Leyte and Eastern Samar also recorded increases by 0.1 percentage point, resulting to an IR of 3.1 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively
Leyte retained its previous month’s IR of 1.3 percent.
Perante added that the Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) of the region remained at P0.79 in September 2020. “This PPP implies that the goods and services worth P79.00 in 2012 is worth P100.00 in September 2020,” she said.
She added that the PPP in Northern Samar strengthened by P0.01 compared with its figure in August 2020. Biliran weakened by P0.01, while the rest of the provinces retained their previous month’s PPP.
On the other hand, Perante said, Biliran recorded the strongest PPP at P0.82. Leyte ranked second at P0.81, followed by Southern Leyte at P0. 80, Eastern Samar at P0.77 and Northern Samar at P0.74. Samar posted the weakest PPP at P0.73. (RESTITUTO A.CAYUBIT)