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Recto: No plans to raise rice tariffs

Recto: No plans to raise rice tariffs

Provided by Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Philippine rice imports fall as harvest barely rises
Pres. Marcos recently approved a 60-day pause on rice importation. —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO



MANILA, Philippines — Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said there were no plans to reduce the tariff on imported rice, as the Marcos administration walks a fine line between shielding farmers and keeping food prices in check.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a forum organized by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (Ejap) yesterday, Recto said President Marcos only approved a 60-day importation pause that would unlikely be extended.

“I only agreed to [import] suspension,” he said. “The decision of the president is suspension. That’s all.”

READ: Inflation cools to 0.9% as rice prices drop

The import pause, set to begin on Sept. 1, was announced last week by Mr. Marcos as part of an effort to stabilize domestic palay prices and shield local farmers from competition with cheaper foreign grain.

The president has yet to act on a separate recommendation from the Department of Agriculture to gradually restore the tariff on imported rice to 35 percent from the current 15 percent. In June, Mr. Marcos signed Executive Order No. 62, reducing rice tariffs to 15 percent from 35 percent until 2028 in a bid to curb retail prices and ease food inflation.

The lower rate is subject to review every four months. As it is, many analysts attributed the country’s low inflation environment to the rice policy.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.9 percent year-on-year in July, the slowest pace of increase in nearly six years. Data showed that the multiyear low inflation last month was partly driven by a sharp drop in prices of rice, which makes up 9 percent of the CPI basket used to compute inflation.

Price drop


The price of the staple fell by 15.9 percent—the steepest drop since records began in 1995—following lower import duties aimed at curbing retail prices. Groups like the Foundation for Economic Freedom have voiced their opposition to rice tariff hikes, saying that such a move would hurt the poor the most.

For his part, Economy, Planning and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said a technical group would study how the government can help boost farmers’ incomes.

“Because if you look closely at the data, the response of retail prices to the world price is different from that of farm-gate prices. So, that would mean that you have to be using some additional tools to address the concerns of the various parties,” Balisacan told reporters on the sidelines of the same Ejap forum.

“There are three parties. One is the farmers—the farm-gate price they receive. The second is the consumers. The third is the economy, through factors like inflation and wages. All of these have to be reconciled so that it’s a win-win for everyone,” he added.

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