MANILA – Most Filipinos have been "strongly affected" by price hikes in basic commodities such as food and beverage since January 2018, a Pulse Asia survey showed.

A total of 98 percent out of the 1,200 respondents of Pulse Asia’s March 2018 "Ulat ng Bayan Survey" said prices of basic goods they would usually buy have increased since January this year. The same trend has been observed across all geographic and socio-economic classes, it said.

An "overwhelming" 86 percent were strongly affected by the increase in prices of goods, 13 percent were “somewhat affected,” and only 1 percent said they were not affected at all.

Most of the respondents cited food items (92 percent) to have increased in prices in the last quarter, topped by rice (81 percent) and non-rice items (67 percent).

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Other items said to have increased in prices were sugar-sweetened beverages such as softdrinks (56 percent), electricity (30 percent), and transportation-related items (22 percent).

Respondents also cited price hikes in gas or diesel (16 percent), LPG (12 percent) and in transport fares (7 percent).

They also noted an increase in prices of health-related needs, cigarettes, alcoholic drinks, cellphone load, water and recreation-related expenses.

• Inflation accelerates to 4.3 percent in March

Government data showed accelerated inflation in March reaching 4.3 percent, above the Bangko Sentral's target of 2 to 4 percent due to higher prices of food, beverage, tobacco and utilities.

Food prices alone rose 5.7 percent in March, from 4.8 percent in February and 3.1 percent in March last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

Analysts said the hike in prices of goods is influenced by higher taxes imposed under the new Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law package 1 implemented early this year.

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