PSA: Farmgate palay price soars to P23/kg
T price of
Based on PSA data, the latest amount is the highest recorded for the staple since the El Niño phenomenon caused production to drop in 2015. The price during the third week of September that year was P20.91.
According to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol, the average farmgate buying price of fresh is now P22 per kg, while that of dry
goes as high as P29.50 per kg in Nueva Ecija province and P29 per kg in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley).
“highest in the history of the rice industry,” and translate into increased income for local farmers.
The average wholesale price of well-milled rice rose by 16.93 per- A worker is piling repacked sacks of National Food Authority (NFA) rice at the Antonio Porne grain center in Pritil, Tondo, Manila, in this August 26, 2018 photo.
cent to P45.92 per kg from P39.30 a year ago. Week- on- week, the price climbed by 0.90 percent.
The retail price increased by 1.10 percent to P48.93 per kg. Year-on-year, the price soared by 15.73 percent.
The wholesale price of regularmilled rice grew by 21.15 percent to P43.13 per kg from last year’s
by 20.26 percent to P45.71 per kg.
Rice prices have been increasing since the start of the year following the lack of supply of the government-subsidized rice from the National Food Authority (NFA) in
to an average of 6.3 percent. Barclays, Bajoria said, expects
- seas Filipino worker ( OFW) remittances and foreign direct investments ( FDI), as well as public spending, to be the main drivers of growth for the rest of the year.
coming through in the numbers,” he observed.
Personal remittances, which sum up the net compensation of overseas Filipino workers, personal transfers whether in cash or in kind and also capital transfers between households, totaled
the retail market.
According to the PSA, total rice inventory in end- July was 1.52 million metric tons ( MMT), a 25.01-percent plunge from 2.03 MMT in 2017 and a 23.61-percent drop from 1.99 MMT in end-June.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) had said national rice stocks were enough for for 40 days, while NFA buffer stocks were good for two days.
It noted, however, supply would become adequte once the harvest season begins at the end of September.
Meanwhile, farmgate prices of
$ 2.675 billion in July— up 4.5 percent from a year earlier.
It took year-to-date remittances to $18.462 billion, a 3-percent increase year on year.
Bajoria added that FDI was picking up as well, “which is generally a good indicator that …. you will probably see more investment numbers.”
He, however, estimated that net FDI inflows would reach about $6 billion this year, lower than the over $10 billion posted in 2017.
As of the first half of 2018,
billion, 42.4 percent higher compared to the same period last year.
“Government spending is also a big driver of growth ... as construction momentum sort of picks up and the projects are getting contracted out,” Bajoria also said.
Government expenditures grew by 23 percent to P1.931 tril-
2018. Of the total, P437.2 billion
white corn grain grew by 1.25 percent to P14.56 per kg, but fell by 0.27 percent weekly.
Prices of yellow corn grain increased by 30.18 percent year-on-year to P14.71 per kg. Week-on-week, prices climbed by 1.59 percent.
The average wholesale and retail price of yellow corn grain rose by 16.65 percent to P21.02 per kg and by 14.07 percent to P25.37 per kg, respectively.
The wholesale price of white corn grain increased by 16.55 percent to P20.78 per kg, while its retail price decreased by 5.89 percent to P29.52 per kg.
was spent for infrastructure and other capital spending.
A primary risk to economic growth, Bajoria pointed out, is high consumer price growth that he forecast to average 5.1 percent this year—above the 2.0-4.0 target—before easing to 3.5 percent in 2019.
... are likely to persist for some time but I think the central bank, as it said, is on top of the situation,” he said.
Consumer price growth has exceeded target since March, prompting the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policymaking Monetary Board to raise key interest rates by a total of 100 basis points. A fresh rate hike is expected to be
- tion hit a fresh nine-year high of 6.4 percent in August.
Bajoria is one of several local and regional bank analysts, portfolio strategists and economists who joined a BSP-sponsored tour of ongoing developments at the New Clark City.