Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo

AGRICULTURE Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel expressed confidence that the price of rice will go down to P45 per kilo by January 2025.

In a press conference following a sectoral meeting in Malacañang on managing food and non-food inflation on Monday, September 23, 2024, Laurel cited various government interventions to arrest the increasing price of rice.

These include the tariff rate cut intended to stabilize the supply of the staple, while the falling prices in the international market were also taken into account.

Laurel said the price of rice will gradually decrease starting mid-October.

“But the full effects, para sa akin, P5 to P7 ang range, so, I will put it at P5 na dapat bumaba. Kung P52 ngayon ang bigas, dapat by January nasa P48 na lang iyan, Kung P50 ang bigas ngayon, P45 dapat iyan by January, iyan ang aking estimates,” he said.

(But for me, the full effects will range from a decrease of P5 to P7. So, I’ll say it should decrease by P5. If rice is P52 now, it should be around P48 by January. If it’s P50 now, it should be P45 by January. Those are my estimates.)

Earlier, Department of Agriculture (DA) Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa also said they are working closely with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) for the release of 888 containers carrying about 23 million kilos, or 23,000 metric tons, of rice, which have been overstaying at the ports.

This is only about 0.75 percent of the total imported rice that entered the country.

Data from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) showed that about 3,093,000 metric tons of rice have arrived in the country.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also expressed optimism that rice prices would ease further, consistent with the current price trend of the staple in Southeast Asia.

Rice was the top inflation driver, contributing 1.9 percentage points to July inflation.

While rice inflation slowed to 20.9 percent from 22.5 percent, prices remained elevated. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)

Published Date: September 25, 2024