REFORMS TO REDUCE FOOD PRICES
The Economic Development Cluster will implement eight immediate reforms designed to reduce the prices of food
To address the high inflation in the country, the Economic Development Cluster is seeking immediate reforms for reducing food prices and boosting the agriculture sector.
In an initial meeting on Wednesday, the cluster made up of nine government agencies came up with eight actions to address food inflation, which include hastening the distribution of rice and release of food items into the market.
“The economic managers have agreed to recommend to the President the issuance of a directive to further simplify and streamline the licensing procedures for rice imports of the NFA (National Food Authority). Moreover, we urge the Senate to immediately pass the Rice Tariffication Bill within the month,” a joint statement read.
The cluster is composed of the Department of Finance (DOF), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), and some members of the NFA Council.
“Reforms in agriculture will continuously be implemented to address the supply issues causing the rise in food prices. This is supported by the lowest regional inflation rate recorded in the food-abundant and agriculturally-productive Region III at 3.6 percent. A committed effort from government in the agriculture sector to boost supply of key products and introduce policy reforms will bring down prices for all Filipino families,” the statement read.
The DA has committed to replicating the issuance of certificates of necessity to allow fish imports to be distributed in the wet markets.
On rice supply issues, the 4.6 million sacks of rice available in NFA warehouses will be released immediately.
“We also expect approximately 2.0 million sacks of rice previously contracted to be delivered before the end of September. In addition, the NFA Council authorized the importation of 5.0 million sacks that will be arriving over the next one and a half months and another 5.0 million sacks will be imported early next year,” they said.
They said 2.7 million sacks will be allocated to Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi to address reported shortages there.
They expect more supply coming in with the harvest starting in many parts of the country. Projected harvest for 2018 is 12.6 million metric tons of rice, equivalent to 252 sacks.
The DTI, NFA, Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and farmer groups will form a monitoring team for surveillance of rice from ports to NFA warehouses and retail outlets.
To reduce the gap between the farm gate and retail prices of chicken, the DA and DTI will convene poultry producers and set up public markets where producers can sell directly to the end customer. The DA will also provide cold storage for this purpose.
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) will open importation of sugar to direct users to moderate costs to consumers.
“The spike in the prices of vegetables was attributed to seasonal weather conditions. We will see relief in this area after the typhoon season,” they said.
The Bureau of Customs will also prioritize the release of essential food items in the ports.
The headline inflation rate accelerated to 6.4 percent year-onyear in August, faster than the 5.7 percent in July. The highest contributors to inflation were electricity, gas, fuels, fish, rice, personal transport, vegetables and meat.
“The government’s economic team has previously announced that inflation is expected to peak in the third quarter before tapering off towards the latter part of the year, and then fall within the government’s target by next year. However, inflation in August was beyond the median market forecast. We remain steadfast in putting forward and accelerating these measures that will address food prices for all Filipinos,” they said. /