In an attempt to mitigate the effects of inflation on domestic prices, the Department of Agriculture (DA) recommended keeping the 15% tariff on imported rice, according to a GMA Network news report.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the news report of GMA. Some parts in boldface…
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has recommended retaining the 15% tariff on imported rice to help mitigate the effects of inflation in local prices.
In a public briefing on Wednesday, DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said that they aim on lowering the effects of inflation throughout the agricultural industry.
“Napakaimportante yan sa buong ekonomiya ng ating bansa, at masigurado din natin na maging tuloy-tuloy ang mga programa natin na mas mababang presyo ng bilihin di lamang ng bigas kundi iba pang agricultural commodities,” said de Mesa.
(It is very important to the economy of the entire country, and we should ensure that our programs to lower the prices of commodities will continue, not just rice but other agricultural commodities.)
He further said that the majority of every P100 that poor Filipino families spend were used to purchase rice.
“Mga 25% kasi ng bigas na kino-consume natin ay imported. So, kung mapapanatili natin na mababa ang taripa at 15%, mas masisigurado natin na yung pangkalahatang presyo ng bigas ay mas magiging matatag at hindi makakaapekto sa price spikes kung magkakaroon man. Yung inflation overall natin, mapapanatili nating mababa kung mananatiling mababa presyo ng bigas,” he added.
(About 25% of the rice we consume is imported. So, if we keep the tariff low at 15%, we can better ensure that the overall price of rice will remain stable and won’t affect any price spikes. We can keep or overall inflation lower if we keep the price of rice low.)
DA said that they consider the price of rice in international markets, exchange rates, logistics costs from the port of origin, and productivity in the country when considering rice tariffs.
“Napakaimportante lalo na sa panahon ng lean months, ay masigurado natin na yung imported na bigas ay maganda ang presyuhan para di maapektuhan din yung presyo ng local na supply natin. Yung timing is really important to make sure natin na mapapanatili natin na matatag ang presyuhan ng bigas,” he said.
(It is very important, especially in the lean months, that we ensure that the price of important rice will not affect the price of our local supply. The timing is really important to make sure that we keep rice pricing stable.)
Let me end this post by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think 15% tariff on imported rice is just right?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
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