Peso’s worth dwindles to 0.83 centavos in 2024

IF YOU are living in Cebu, then the worth of your P1 in 2018 has now plummeted to 0.83 centavos only.

The purchasing power of a Cebuano’s P1 has dropped, meaning Cebuanos now need to expend more currency for goods and services compared to six years ago.

This is according to chief statistical specialist Melchor Bautista of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Cebu Provincial Office during the inflation dissemination session held on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.

Bautista said the purchasing power of the peso signifies the quantity of goods or services that one unit of the currency can purchase.

He told SunStar Cebu that a decrease in the purchasing power of the peso implies that it can acquire fewer goods or services compared to previous periods.

“For example, in 2018, with your P100, you can still buy two kilos of rice, to make it more realistic, but right now, it makes more peso to buy two kilos of rice,” he said.

Based on the data he provided, the purchasing power of the peso was 0.83 centavos from January to March 2024, which is lower than the 0.84 centavos in December 2023.

Bautista said this decline is typically a result of inflation, wherein prices of goods and services increase over time, thus, diminishing the value of the currency.

The statistician, who also has a master’s degree in economics, said that inflation affects the purchasing power of the peso by eroding its value over time.

He said that as prices of goods and services rise, each peso buys fewer items than it did before.

As a result, consumers must pay more pesos to buy the same amount of goods or services, therefore diminishing their purchasing power. / KJF