DA: Rice prices down P7 by August

CHEAPER RICE A Kadiwa Center in Quezon City displays rice sold at P29 per kilogram. —LYN RILLON

Retail prices of rice in public markets are expected to decline by up to P7 a kilo in early August after the government cut the duties on imported rice, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

“Based on the initial computation of the PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority), retail prices will be lower by P6 to P7 [per kilogram],” Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said in an interview.

De Mesa, also the DA’s spokesperson, said consumers will feel the price reduction by the first week of August even though some rice shipments levied with lower tariffs have already entered the country.

“The volume of imported rice that arrived in the country is not that huge in quantity … but within July, some of it [would already have] been released and reached the markets,” he told reporters.

The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) issued a total of 302 sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSICs) covering 264,316.50 metric tons of imported rice as of July 11.

However, De Mesa cited government data in saying that 35,594 MT of imported rice reached the archipelago, much lower than the 157,111.75 MT recorded by the BPI in the same month a year before.

2.37 million MT imported

Between January and this month, the volume of imported rice totaled 2.37 million MT.

All rice imports are subject to a 15-percent duty levied by the government by virtue of Executive Order No. 62 signed by President Marcos last month. The slashed tariffs took effect on July 5.

The President issued the EO effective until 2028 to ensure continued supply of essential food products at affordable prices.

As of Friday, locally produced regular milled rice was priced from P45 to P50 per kg, higher than P36 to P44 per kg a year ago, based on the DA’s price monitoring.

Local well-milled rice ranged from P45 to P55 per kg compared with P40 to P49 per kg.

Imported regular milled rice was sold from P47 to P49 per kg, but it was not available last year.

Meanwhile, imported well-milled rice retailed from P51 to P55 per kg as opposed to P40 to P48 per kg.

Meanwhile, De Mesa said the DA is targeting to expand further the coverage of its “Program 29” aimed at selling subsidized rice by November this year.

READ: Traders see drop in rice prices next month

“This is a long-term plan of the DA to extend the implementation of our P29 program,” he said.

As of this writing, the initiative is now being implemented in Bacoor, Cavite, and San Pedro City in Laguna.

Extended ‘Program 29’

The DA earlier decided to implement this undertaking for a longer period to gather critical information.

“What we are studying is how much the NFA (National Food Authority) will spend, farm-gate prices and everything else without allotting too much provisions for the subsidies. But these are social costs that the government has to bear, especially since this is for vulnerable sectors,” he said.

Under the program, eligible beneficiaries can buy up to 10 kilos of rice a month for P29 per kg.

The vulnerable sector is pegged at 6.9 million households, or around 34 million Filipinos, which include senior citizens, single parents, persons with disabilities and poor folk under the conditional cash transfer scheme.