The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), reacting to the 2.9 percent headline inflation rate for January, said they see the rise in consumer prices keeping a steady pace in the next two or few months.
Philexport expects, in particular, the price of rice further stabilizing, with the commodity set to be made available on the markets at affordable prices soon under the recently declared state of food security emergency on rice.
Philexport president Sergio Ortiz-Luis said while a stop-gap measure, the declaration of food emergency on rice could influence prices of other rice varieties in the market.
“Consumers will react, but the impact will really be big if this can be sustained,” Ortiz-Luis said.
In a Malaya Business Insight report on Tuesday, the National Food Authority said it has lowered the maximum suggested retail price of imported rice to P55 per kilo, effective Wednesday.
The NFA also said the emergency declaration allows the Department of Agriculture to order the NFA to release its rice buffer stocks to stabilize retail prices.
In the same report, Genevieve Guevarra, DA assistant secretary for agribusiness, marketing and consumer affairs, said actual availability for the sale of the P35 per kg of rice supplied by the NFA is expected to happen “within the week or next week.”
‘Steady despite election spending’
“So far, so good,” George Barcelon, PCCI chairman, said in reaction to the January inflation, citing the expected trend in the month following heavy spending during the December holidays.
Going forward, Barcelon said he expects inflation to remain steady even with the coming election seen fueling expenditure.
However, he warned of the uncertainty from the tariff moves by US President Donald Trump on China and other global players that could impact world trade.
“Everybody has to wait and see,” Barcelon said.
Adding to the uncertainty, he said, are the ongoing discussios over legislated wage increases, which if implemented, could hike prices as producers might be forced to pass on the additional cost to consumers.
