DA: Rice supply enough to last 1st half of 2024

Despite the effects of El Niño throughout the country, the Department of Agriculture (DA) assured the country has an adequate supply of rice that would last throughout the 1st half of 2024.

In a statement on Thursday, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said that the supply will come from recent imports and the expected rice harvest this March and April.

He added that prices may stay elevated until September 2024 because of El Niño's impact on global rice supply and prices.

The Philippines was able to import 750,000 metric tons of rice in December and January, in addition to an agreement signed by  President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. with Vietnam in January for a supply of 1.5 million to 2 million metric tons of rice annually.

“We have enough rice supply so prices should remain stable through the first half of the year. Our priority now is market stability. What we need to guard against now are profiteers who may attempt to exploit the situation by using El Nino as an excuse to hoard rice supply to push local prices to unreasonably high levels,” the agriculture secretary added.

The DA said it has coordinated with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as well as local authorities, to monitor local rice prices.

A surge in rice prices in 2023 is a factor that possibly contributed to the high rate of inflation, according to Economic Planning Undersecretary and National Statistician Dennis Mapa.

Marcos in September implemented a price cap on rice that limited the selling of grains at around P41 to P45 per kilogram. It was lifted on October 4.

According to the President, the month-long cap effectively stabilized market prices.  —RF, GMA Integrated News