RICE PRICES. Rice prices are displayed at a rice retail store in San Andres, Manila on May 6, 2024. The Department of Agriculture on Thursday (Sept. 5) expressed hopes that the rice inflation in the country will go down to a single-digit level in the coming months. (PNA file photo by Yancy Lim)
MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday expressed hopes to hit single-digit inflation on rice prices in the country.
“We're hoping na bababa (that it will go down). Of course, single digit, maganda yan. Makita natin noong panahon ng after RTL, after a year, ang laki ng naging stability ng (that’s good. We can see during the time of the Rice Tariffication Law, after a year, there’s a huge stability in the) inflation because of rice nasa mga (it’s only around) 2 to 4 percent inflation,” DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said in an interview.
“So, hopefully, we can reach that level ulit (again) in the near future.”
De Mesa's remarks came after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported the drop in rice inflation to 14.7 percent in August from 20.9 percent in July, contributing to the eased food inflation of 4.2 percent from July’s 6.7 percent.
“That's a very significant reduction and we're expecting pa sa susunod na mga buwan, lalo pang bababa yung itong inflation na dulot ng bigas (that in the coming months, the inflation will further slow due to lower rice prices),” De Mesa said, citing 25 percent contribution of rice in the overall food inflation.
Earlier, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the public may feel lower retail prices of rice in October as imported rice, whose tariff was lowered from 35 to 15 percent under Executive Order No. 62, starts to reach the local markets.
As of Aug. 29, the DA recorded the arrival of more than 2.8 million metric tons (MT) of rice imports since January, which includes the 296,350 MT that arrived in August.
De Mesa said that they have started to monitor prices as low as PHP42 per kilogram of well-milled rice in some markets in the country, with PHP45/kg. level being the “commonly-monitored” price.
“Ngayon kasi, meron na tayong nakikita na PHP45/kg. sa palengke (For now, we are seeing PHP45/kg. in markets) for both the regular and well-milled rice. We're already seeing these numbers. May nakita pa nga kami (We have even seen) PHP42/kg,” he said.
As of Thursday, the price range of imported well-milled rice in Metro Manila ranges from PHP47/kg. to PHP55/kg.; while the imported regular-milled rice ranges from PHP47/kg. to PHP50/kg, according to the DA-Bantay Presyo.
The local well-milled rice, likewise, is pegged at the same price range as the imported, while the local regular-milled rice ranges from PHP43/kg to PHP50/kg. (PNA)
