ILOILO CITY, July 17 -- The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has urged consumers in Guimaras to plan their household budgets carefully as the province's inflation rate continued to rise, climbing from -0.6 percent in January to 5.1 percent in June.

Guimaras Chief Statistical Specialist Nelida Losare, in a virtual presentation on Thursday, said the June inflation rate remained lower than the national rate of 6.1 percent and the Western Visayas regional rate of 6.8 percent. Average inflation in Guimaras during the first six months of the year stood at 2.6 percent.

In an interview on Friday, Losare said the steady increase in inflation indicates that prices of essential goods and services, particularly food, are rising.

"Consumers ar...