Discounts and offers, increase in the price level generally and the rise in operating costs due to new health and safety protocols are the main threats to the profitability of companies in this new commercial reality.
Given this context of economic and health crisis, which derives from the outbreak of covid-19 at the global level, Ariel Baños, a specialist in price management and founder of Fijaciondeprecios.com, explains what are the main threats that could affect the profitability levels of companies, and details some strategies that could be applied to mitigate the adverse effects.
During February in the country the CPI reported -0.3% year-on-year variation, which is partly explained by the behavior of the prices of the transport category.
The groups that showed decreases in the National Urban CPI for February compared to January 2020 were: Transportation with 1.3%, Food and non-alcoholic beverages with 0.8%, Recreation and culture with 0.4%, Communications with 0.3%, Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, clothing and footwear, and Health all with 0.1%, reported the General Comptroller of the Republic.
During the second month of the year, the Consumer Price Index registered a 3.99% year-on-year variation, a rise that was determined in part by the behavior of the prices of education services, hotels and restaurants.
From the Central Bank of Honduras report:
The monthly behavior of the CPI was determined by the contribution of the item "Education" with 0.51 percentage points (pp), together with the items "Recreation and Culture" and "Hotels, Cafes and Restaurants" with 0.04 pp, each. On the contrary, "Transportation" contributed -0.18 pp to the monthly inflation.
At the beginning of 2020 in Panama, a positive variation in the Consumer Price Index was reported, a behavior that was determined partly by the prices of Transportation and Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.
From the report of the General Comptroller of the Republic:
The groups showing an increase in the National Urban CPI of January 2020, as compared to December 2019 were: Housing, water, electricity and gas with 0.6%; Transportation with 0.5%; Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, Education and Diverse goods and services all with 0.3%; Health and Restaurants and hotels both with 0.1%.
At the end of 2019, Panama reported a negative variation in the Consumer Price Index, a behavior that was determined partly by the prices of air passenger transport.
From the report of the General Comptroller of the Republic:
The groups that presented decreases in the National Urban CPI of December, with respect to November 2019 were: Transportation with 0.5%; Furniture, home articles and ordinary home maintenance, and Recreation and culture both with 0.4%; Alcoholic beverages and tobacco with 0.2%; Food and non-alcoholic beverages, and diverse goods and services both with 0.1%.
The variation in the price of some foods of agricultural origin, transport and health, determined the 4.08% year-on-year increase in the CPI reported in December last year.
In December 2019, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed a 0.42% variation (0.19% in December 2018), reflecting the price increase in some foods of agricultural origin, transport and health.
After the Consumer Price Index reported a 2.03% year-on-year variation at the end of 2018, in December 2019 the inflationary rhythm dropped to 1.52%.
The groups with greater contribution to the variation of the CPI in December 2019 were: Food and non-alcoholic beverages and Transportation, reported the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC).
During December 2019, the CPI registered a 3.4% variation with respect to the same month of the previous year, an inflationary rhythm higher than the 2.3% reported at the end of 2018.
The most important inflation levels of December 2019 are the following: a monthly inflation of 0.60% was registered, an inflationary rhythm of 3.41% and an accumulated inflation of 3.41%, informed the National Statistics Institute (INE).
In November, a 3.2% year-on-year increase was reported in the Consumer Price Index, above the 2.5% recorded in October 2019.
The consumer price index (CPI) in November recorded a 0.37% variation with regard to October 2019. Accumulated inflation for the January-November 2019 period reached 3.45%, while annualized inflation, measured from November 2018 to November 2019, stood at 3.23%, informed the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic.
In Costa Rica, the inflationary rhythm slowed for the fourth consecutive month, as in November the CPI reported a year-on-year variation of 1.86%, below the 2.07% reported in October.
During November, the goods and services that showed the greatest positive effect were: onion, gasoline and tourist packages. On the other hand, automobiles, papaya and tomatoes were among the main ones with the greatest negative effect, informed the National Institute of Statistics and Census.
In October, the Consumer Price Index rose 2.5% year-on-year, up from 2% in September 2019.
The consumer price index (CPI) in October 2019 registered a 0.67% variation with respect to the month of September, placing accumulated inflation from January to October at 3.06%, explains a report by the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic.
The inflationary rhythm slowed for the third consecutive month, as in October the CPI reported a 2.07% year-on-year variation, below the 2.53% reported in September.
The groups with the greatest contribution to the variation of the CPI in October are: Transport, and Food and non-alcoholic beverages. Of the 315 goods and services that make up the consumption basket, 49% increase in price, 40% decreased in price and 11% showed no variation, informed the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses.
For the third consecutive month, the inflationary rate in Guatemala decelerated, since the year-on-year variations reported by the Consumer Price Index during July, August and September, were of 4.4%, 3% and 1.8%, respectively.
The most important inflation levels in September 2019 are as follows: monthly inflation of -0.58%, inflationary rate of 1.80% and accumulated inflation of 1.63%, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE).
In September, the Consumer Price Index reported a 2.5% year-on-year variation, down from 2.9% in August.
Of the 315 goods and services that make up the consumption basket, 50% increase in price, 39% decreased in price and 11% showed no variation, reported the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses.
The official report explains that "... During September, the goods and services showing the greatest negative effect are: gasoline, potato and tomato. On the other hand, automobiles, canned tuna and papaya were among the main ones with the greatest positive effect.
After the July Consumer Price Index reported a 6.1% year-on-year variation, in August the increase was 6.3%.
In cumulative terms, national inflation stood at 4.03% (1.66% in August 2018), induced by the behavior of prices in the divisions of Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (42.89%), Several goods and services (9.87%), and Food and non-alcoholic beverages (2.81%), with a joint contribution of 2.13%, reported the Central Bank of Nicaragua.