When consumers visit commercial establishments, such as supermarkets, to make their purchases, the selection of products generally includes rice, oil, meat, beans, bananas, eggs, tomatoes, green pigeon peas, potatoes and garlic, among others.
If we check the prices of these products, for example, rice, a 10-pound bag of the select was around 320 pesos in January of this year. That same product, in the month of October, averaged 318 pesos, for a drop of 0.62%.
In the case of a 128-ounce gallon of oil, at the beginning of the year, this product cost an average of 638.14 pesos, but, 10 months later, it stood at 739.70 pesos, for an increase of 15.91%.
As for meat, the number seven pound of beef, at the beginning of the year, cost an average of 169.14 pesos and that of pork for stewing cost 101.81 pesos. When checking the latest update of the data published by Pro Consumidor, those same products cost 190.34 pesos per pound of meat beef and pork to stew 109.44 pesos, both show an increase of 12.53% and 7.49%, respectively. In the case of the pound of processed chicken, this went from an average of 69.50 pesos in January to 82.647 pesos in October, for an upward variation of 18.90%. In January, the unit of plantain cost an average of 16.39 pesos, in October, that same product stood at 19.29 pesos, for a price increase of 17.69%.
Quintiles
The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) in its updated data on the cost of the family basket by income quintiles 2018-2022 indicates that from January to October 2022 the first quintile has varied by 5.57%, going from 23,969.45 pesos to 25,306.56 pesos. This quintile is made up of people with the lowest income.
The quintiles have varied upwards, as has the national basket. The latter went from 40,547.92 pesos, in January 2022, to 42,601.11 in October of this year, showing a variation of 5.06% in 10 months.
Inflation
In addition, according to the BCRD report, the accumulated inflation for January-October 2022 stands at 6.31%, after the consumer price index (CPI) reflects a variation of 0.28% in October 2022, thus registering three consecutive months below the threshold of 0.30%.
In addition, the BCRD indicates that year-on-year inflation, measured from October 2021 to October 2022, maintains a downward trajectory, standing at 8.24% in October, a drop of 140 basis points compared to the peak of 9.64% observed in April of this year. year. Therefore, it is forecast that inflation would be around 7% at the end of 2022.
42,601
Cost of the national basic basket as of October of this year, which meant an increase of 5.06%
Goods and services
When analyzing the consumer price index for the month of October 2022, the BCRD indicates that it stands out that the groups with the greatest contribution were Miscellaneous Goods and Services, growing 0.90%, Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (0.29%), Restaurants and Hotels (0.46%), Transportation (0.17%), Housing (0.20%) and Furniture and Household Items (0.41%).
The CPI of the Miscellaneous Goods and Services group, the one with the highest incidence in the result of the general CPI, grew 0.90%, mainly due to price increases registered in health insurance (5.75%), personal care services (0.75%) , in personal care items (0.79%) and in holding events (3.56%). The index of the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages group registered a moderate variation of 0.29%, mainly explained by the price increases observed in green bananas (3.83%), green pigeon peas (8.78%), tomatoes (10.59%) and peppers (5.63%). %), among others.
The BCRD indicated that the behavior of local inflation has been due to the measures adopted by that institution, which shows that the monetary policy transmission mechanism is operating. Similarly, fuel subsidies, the pause in electricity rate adjustments and initiatives in agriculture have had an impact.
