(FILES) Consumers can still benefit from ‘Program 29,’ which offers rice at P29 per kilo to vulnerable households at government-run KADIWA Centers. Shoppers are seen buying products from the KADIWA Center at the Bureau of Plant Industry in Manila on Saturday, 3 August 2024. Recently, the Department of Agriculture announced that KADIWA Centers will now sell rice at P45 per kilo under the new ‘Rice-for-All’ program. KING RODRIGUEZ

Vivienne Angeles

A substantial reduction in rice prices in local markets this month can be expected as the lower import levy for staple grain starts taking effect, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Tuesday. 

“We will see. Because I know the reduction in the tariff will start so there is a possible substantial reduction in the price of rice this August,” PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said in a virtual press briefing.

“But our team in the field offices this week is collecting data, and we are reporting it on the first 15 days; we will see if there is a substantial movement in the price of rice,” he added.

Based on PSA’s latest report, the country’s headline inflation rate last month fastened to 4.4 percent from June’s rate of 3.7 percent.

In the 4.4 percent overall inflation rate, rice contributed 1.6 percentage points.

Mapa however said rice inflation at the national level slowed down to 20.9  percent last month from 22.5 percent in June 2024.

Further, the statistics bureau tracked the movements in average prices of three sub-rice groups: regular-milled, well-milled, and special rice.

For regular milled rice, the average price last month was P50.90 per kilo, down from P51.10  per kilo in June.

“There is a decrease, but it’s not that big. But month-on-month, it has a negative 0.3 percent reduction,” Mapa said.

Meanwhile, the average price of well-milled rice was registered at P55.85 per kilo last month, slightly lower compared to P55.96 per kilo in June,  recording a month-on-month reduction of negative 0.2 percent.

For special rice, the average price last month was P64.42 per kilo, an inch down from P 64.56 per kilo in June. It also registered a reduction of negative 0.2 percent month-on-month.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order No. 62 in June directing the modification of nomenclature and tariff rates on various products to ensure the continuous supply of goods and protect the Filipino people’s purchasing power. 

Duty rates under the order for imported rice are expected to decrease by P6 to P7. 

The reduced rice tariff for in- and out-quota rates is effective until 2028.

Published Date: August 6, 2024