Rice import tariffs to trim inflation by 0.8 percentage points —BSP

Mandating tariffs on rice importation could trim inflation by 0.8 percentage points, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Thursday.

The rice tariffication bill, once enacted into law, would have an impact on inflation, BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said in a press conference.

“In early 2019, the impact on inflation will be a reduction of 0.8 percentage points,” the BSP official told reporters.

The Agricultural Tariffication, pending in Congress, seeks to lift the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice and allow private trader to import the staple food of Filipinos from countries of their choice.

Authored by former Agriculture Secretary and incumbent Bohol Representative Arthur Yap, House Bill 4904 passed on second reading at the House of Representatives earlier this week.

“If rice tariffication bill is approved by Congress in the third quarter of this year and becomes operational by the fourth quarter, we expect inflation to be reduced by 0.2 percentage points and another 0.6 percentage points next year,” Guinigundo said.

The Duterte administration’s economic team, particularly Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, has been vocal about the significance of congressional action in helping to temper the accelerating.

Inflation clocked in at 5.7 percent in July, the fastest in at least five years. —VDS, GMA News