Govt to import 1.5 million tons of rice next year

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will buy some 1.5 million tons of imported rice next year, the National Food Authority (NFA) said. Although he refused to say whether the figure is at the low end of the estimated importation, Administrator Jessup Navarro said that the estimates covered “approximate expenditures to give [the Department of Finance] an idea of how much allocation should be given to agencies for the following year." “The final figure will be released after the assessment of the Inter-Agency Committee on Rice and Corn," he said at the sidelines of the agency’s 36th anniversary. Navarro added that the agency refuses to disclose auction schedules as these cuts local rice prices which will reach peak harvest by October till November. For this year, the Philippines—the world’s largest rice importer—bought 2.4 million metric tons of the grain from foreign suppliers at an average price of $740 per metric ton. The expense cost P70 billion. The food agency also said that it already purchased as much as 85,000 metric tons of palay from farmers. Procured volumes are expected to go up “as soon as the main cropping harvest season comes in," Navarro said. The national rice inventory—at 1.9 million metric tons—can currently cover more than 60 days of the country’s annual consumption of 32,000 metric tons a day. - GMANews.TV