MANILA – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will implement a price rounding scheme on the Suggested Retail Price (SRP) of basic goods to support Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) move to lessen the circulation of low-denomination coins.
Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual, in a briefing on Wednesday, said the scheme suggests rounding off the prices of goods and services to the nearest 25 centavos.
“Matagal na ‘yong BSP price rounding scheme to lessen the circulation of 1-,5-, and 10-Sentimo (centavos) (BSP price rounding scheme has been there for a long time to lessen the circulation of 1-, 5-, and 10 centavos),” he said, adding that 25 centavos should be the lowest coin denomination circulating in the market.
Pascual cited that a canned goods manufacturer is requesting for price increase, thus from the item’s current price of PHP19.46 the new SRP will be PHP19.50 using the rounding-off scheme.
Consumer Policy and Advocacy Bureau Director Marcus Valdez II, during the same briefing, said SRP will be rounded off upwards when using the rounding-off scheme.
“If we are to round down, it's more of a price control for them (sellers),” he pointed out.
Pascual said the rounding scheme will be implemented on SRPs when there is a need to adjust the prices of basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPCs).
BSP, in a 2017 feasibility study on price rounding scheme for cash transactions in the country, said the scheme has been implemented by several countries because of its perceived benefits, which include simplification of coin structure.
The study said low-denomination coins are often neglected and have a low recirculation rate in the market once issued by the Central Bank.
It also suggested the following rounding scheme using the 25 centavo as the base currency:
- round down to 0.00 for 0.00 to 0.12
- round up to 0.25 for 0.13 to 0.24
- round down to 0.25 for 0.26 to 0.37
- round up to 0.50 for 0.38 to 0.49
- round down to 0.50 for 0.51 to 0.62
- round up to 0.75 for 0.63 to 0.74
- round down to 0.75 for 0.76 to 0.87; and
- round up to 1.00 for 0.88 to 0.99. (PNA)
