MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine government has bought 335,500 tons of rice for $237.5 million to offset an expected shortfall in domestic production, the National Food Authority (NFA) said Tuesday.

The rice will be imported mainly from Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan, said the NFA which is the agency tasked with importing rice, the country's staple.

The price varied from $618 to $745 a metric ton, depending on the quality of the grain, the authority said.

NFA officials would not comment on whether there would be further purchases of imported rice, saying this would depend on local production.

The government earlier said it expected to import two million tons of rice this year after importing 1.871 million tons of rice in 2007, mostly from Vietnam and Thailand.

Officials are on guard for a possible shortage of rice this year due to the rising price of food overseas.