INCREASING prices of commodities could compel owners to close down their sari-sari stores. They said the introduction of new taxes early this year and now higher inflation make it doubly hard for them to survive, as they saw their sales decline by as much as 50 percent.

Rizalina of Taguig City said she used to earn around P5,000 daily from her sari-sari store. However, as prices of goods surged unprecedented levels the past months, her everyday sales went down to an average of P2,500.

Inflation, or the general increase in commodity prices, rose 6.7 percent in September, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported last Friday. Government economists struggling to temper price hikes attributed the highest inflation in almost 10 years to supply disruptions caused by the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong.

The September inflation rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than the 6.4 percent recorded in August, and was 3.7 percentage points higher than the 3 percent posted during the same month last year. This put average inflation at 5 percent, way beyond the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s initial target range of 2 to 4 percent for 2018.

“Before, my total daily sales are about P5,000 at the average, [but] now my sales are much slower [that] I only earn about P2,500 per day. Almost half of my sales are already lost,” Rizalina lamented.

In a statement, the Philippine Association of Stores and Carinderia Owners (Pasco) claimed some of its members are now on the brink of shutting down their businesses.

“In the past few weeks, we have seen price increases of commodities, including the items we sell at our small stores because of the impact of the TRAIN law. Now, this continuing inflation-rate hike is racking up the prices of goods even higher [that] this might cause our micro-retail businesses to shut down,” said Victoria Aguinaldo, president of Pasco.

The TRAIN, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, is the first package of the Duterte administration’s tax-reform program. It exempted workers with a gross annual income of P250,000 and below from paying personal income tax, but imposed additional taxes on oil, sugary drinks and automobiles, among others.

According to Pasco, price increases impact consumption, which, in turn, affect consumer frequency of purchase. Cathy of Pasay City, for one, noticed how the recent price spikes reduced the volume of goods her customers buy. “Often, our customers are shocked by the sudden price increases of commodities that we sell. Before, they can buy two items [with their budget], now they can only afford one,” Cathy said.

As much as she wants to keep her selling prices lower than competitors, she said she cannot afford to do so, as she will certainly incur losses.

Unless the accelerating inflation is mitigated soon, Pasco argued it will be difficult for sari-sari store owners to keep up. “Consequently, this trend will be detrimental to the growth or even just the survival of our microretailers,” the group said.