The new year will begin with a notable drop in rice prices as a result of the reductions on imported rice tariffs, said the Department of Agriculture (DA).
“Since demand for food usually spikes in December, we anticipate seeing a more substantial drop in rice prices by January,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said on Wednesday, September 18.
The reduced tariff, having gone from 35 to a mere 15 percent under the Executive Order No. 62, was projected to cut about P5 up to P7 per kilo of rice.
The DA has been keeping an eye on lower prices already, said Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa.
“We can say na mababa na iyong presyo kasi may nakita na tayo na PHP42 sa limang pamilihan… coming iyan sa PHP50 noong mga nakalipas na buwan,” he told reporters.
(We can say that the prices are already low, because we’ve seen five stores sell rice for P42 coming from P50 in the past months.)
In Metro Manila, the prevailing price on regular-milled rice has been pegged at P42/kg; imported well-milled rice costs from P45/kg to P55/kg, noted the DA-Bantay Presyo on Tuesday.
Local regular-milled rice has been priced at P45/kg to P51/kg, while local well-milled rice currently sells for P46/kg to as much as P55/kg.
