BY GABRIELL CHRISTEL GALANG

AT A GLANCE

• The Department of Agriculture (DA) downplays concerns about well-milled rice prices reaching P60 per kilo despite double-digit inflation in December.
• Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa assures that the government is taking measures to prevent well-milled rice from reaching P60 per kilo.
• The DA plans to hold a meeting with stakeholders to address the proposed retail price (SRP) of rice.
• Rice inflation surged to 19.6 percent in December, contributing 1.7 percentage points to overall inflation.
• This marked the highest rice inflation rate since March 2009, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
• De Mesa doubts the likelihood of well-milled rice reaching P60 per kilo, citing expected imports from India.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) played down concerns about the potential for well-milled rice prices to reach P60 per kilo, despite the double-digit increase in the inflation rate for the staple food last December.

In an interview over DZBB on Saturday, Jan. 6, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa assured that the government is implementing measures to avoid the well-milled rice from reaching P60 per kilo.

De Mesa stated that the DA is currently arranging a meeting with relevant stakeholders, such as consumer groups, traders, millers, and others involved in rice production, to address the proposed retail price (SRP).

“[The SRP] depends on multiple factors,” de Mesa said. “First, we have to look at the producer’s group, on the trader’s side [in terms of the value of production, and [in retail] how much is spent in comparison to decide upon the price rate,”

In December, rice inflation surged to 19.6 percent from 15.8 percent in November, making it the leading contributor to headline inflation, adding 1.7 percentage points to the overall figure. 

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), this marked the highest rice inflation rate since the 22.9 percent recorded in March 2009.

Despite the PSA report, De Mesa expressed doubt about the likelihood of well-milled rice reaching P60 per kilo, pointing to the expected arrival of imported rice from India.

Last month, the average price of regular milled rice rose to P48.50 per kilo from P46.73 per kilo in November. Similarly, the average price of well-milled rice increased to P53.82 per kilo from an average of P51.99 per kilo a mont earlier.

“The prices won’t hit [60], as long as we receive and complete the imported rice from India and other [promised] importers,” De Mesa said. “We can ensure we have enough supply.”

Before the new year, the agriculture department said that private imports would be delivered between the months of December and February of this year.

According to the DA, the rice import is expected at half a million metric tons (MT).

Meanwhile, the DA also said that they are setting plans and other strategies to mitigate the incoming effects of El Niño and La Niña in 2024.

Published Date: January 6, 2024