MANILA: Factory gate prices continued to rise in February, driven by the uptick in the selling prices of coke and refined petroleum products.
Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) yesterday showed that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for the manufacturing sector posted a slightly faster annual increase of 0.8% in February, up from a 0.7% year-on-year rise in January.
This reading marked a reversal from February 2024, when the PPI saw an annual decline of 1.4%.
PPI is a measure of the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output, serving as an important indicator of inflationary trends at the wholesale level.
“Among the 22 industry divisions for manufacturing, the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products has the fourth-highest weight in the computation of PPI,” the PSA said in a statement.
Despite signs that the country’s manufacturing output had moderated in February, there was a slight increase in prices.
The manufacture of transport equipment saw a slower decline of 0.01% in February compared with a 0.7% annual decrease in January.
Similarly, the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products experienced a 1.7% decline in February, an improvement from the 3.4% annual decrease in the previous month.
The country’s latest PPI figure indicates a modest but continued recovery in the manufacturing sector, driven largely by the petroleum and transport equipment industries.
Driven by factors like infrastructure spending, private consumption and stable inflation, the Asian Development Bank sees a growth rate of 6.2% gross domestic product for 2025, highlighting sustained growth and development. — The Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
