ODIONGAN: The inflation slowdown in this province last month was due to an aggressive agriculture sector that managed to build up food stocks before the full brunt of the dry spell was felt, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) provincial head.
Headline inflation in Romblon fell to 5.6 percent in April 2024 from 7.0 percent the previous month.
It was also the only province in the Mimaropa region where inflation decelerated last month, the PSA’s latest inflation report showed.
In an exchange of messages, PSA-Romblon chief statistical specialist Johnny Solis explained that a ‘second cropping’ by local farmers early in the current year served to temper inflationary pressures brought about by food supply issues.
He noted that after the palay (rice) harvest in January, growers here quickly got to work planting a second crop consisting mostly of vegetables in an effort to stock up on food.
The farming community had apparently anticipated the imminent effects of El Niño, which was widely her
alded by the government and media organizations.
‘The additional crops that were planted served to augment food stocks, allowing the farmers to sell produce even through the lean months. This is why the prices of agricultural products here didn’t go up too much,’ Solis told the Philippine News Agency in Filipino.
The PSA official noted that while Romblon is not immune from price pressures caused by supply deficiencies in certain agricultural goods, the province’s proactive agriculture sector has ensured that consumers here will be spared from surges in food prices in the short-term.
In its May 13 special release, PSA-Mimaropa reported that headline inflation rate at the regional level increased to 4.4 percent in April 2024, from the 3.9 percent in the previous month.
The main contributor to the inflation uptrend in the five-province region was traced to food and non-alcoholic beverages, with 5.4 percent inflation.
The region’s food index accelerated to 5.8 percent in April 2024, from 5.1 percent in the p
revious month, the PSA also reported.
Source: Philippines News Agency
