Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan yesterday said imports of sugar should be allowed if local production cannot keep up with the demand for the said commodity.
“We need to see what (is) the production potential of our sugar industry vis-a-vis the demand. Obviously, the demand for sugar is quite elastic, meaning it grows with the economy… So, the question is, can production catch up with that? If they (local producers) cannot, then you’d have to get that importation coming in. Otherwise, prices will continue to skyrocket,” Arsenio Balisacan, National Economic and Development Authority secretary, said at the 2022 Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines-San Miguel Corp. Economic Forum held in Manila yesterday.
“What causes the prices to rise is the insufficiency of supply as the economy grows. The thing is, the supply has to grow, the local production has to grow. Imports should be allowed, otherwise prices will continue to skyrocket,” he added.
Balisacan said the government needs to further discuss with industry players and planters if there is really a potential to produce the required demand for sugar.
“What’s the potential there. Can they increase hectarage? Can they raise productivity? Yield per hectare? What’s there in their plans that give us confidence that productivity is going to rise,” Balisacan said.
“(The industry has to) show they are able to increase production, which means that they’d have to increase their productivity; yield per hectare or the hectarage. They will have to tell us, because as we plan for high growth, you expect the demand for sugar to grow, food processing to grow,” he added.
Balisacan explained the insufficient sugar volume is brought by the economic recovery combined with the impact of typhoon Odette.
“Production has fallen in recent years, particularly this (crop) year because of Typhoon Odette. In the meantime, the economy is recovering, so you can imagine the increases in the demand for soft drinks, for food. The requirements of the industry and even households have increased, and at the same time, I think the local producers have been unable to keep up production because of those problems I mentioned,” Balisacan said.
“What we want to ensure is that the growth of the economy as a whole, particularly manufacturing – I keep on harping (on) manufacturing, right? – because that’s where a lot of the quality jobs take place. So if an issue like this is critical and affects our plans for the sector, then obviously we have to come in and suggest possible courses of action,” he added, as he said that a strategic paper is being crafted to address this kind of issue.
“Our President has talked with the industry and manufacturers to find out what the constraints are, what they’re facing in relation to their operations. This is surely an urgent issue and I think that is a continuing discussion and I suppose that there is going to be some decisions about the matter. The industry was requested to submit more information… and we hope that things will firm up in the coming days,” Balisacan said. Angela Celis