Govt Forms Body to Assess Food Situation in the Country

The government is looking to create a body assigned to accurately asses the demand and supply situation of key food items in the Philippines as the inflation rate went past expectations last January despite the aggressive rate hikes imposed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

According to Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Diokno, the technical working group would comprise the Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

For Secretary Diokno, the objective of the formation of the technical working group is for the timely assessment of the demand and supply situation of key food items.

He says that “This responsibility should be taken away from vested groups. This will help ensure timely actions to avert short-term upticks in food prices,”

Diokno mentions that fiscal authorities can keep implementing monetary measures to tame the sharp increase in prices. He also notes the additional importation of onion and sugar.

He adds that the current plan of importing over 440,000 metric tons (MT) of refined sugar will lower the price to ₱85 per kilo. Some of the imported sugar will be released on  “immediate arrival” in an effort to “temper the high retail price of the product”

An estimated 200,000 MT of the total volume will be allocated for consumer use and 240,000 MT will be allocated as a two-month buffer stock.

Source: Philstar