Price ceiling or control may be considered if prices fail to go down —DTI

Imposing a price ceiling or price control may be considered by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) if current measures taken to address the rising prices of basic goods do not take effect, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Wednesday.

"Puwede rin hong pag-aralan 'yun, kasi kung mag-price ceiling ka, parang 'yan 'yung price control, talagang magse-set ka talaga ng presyo na dapat," Lopez said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

Price control allows the government to regulate the prices of goods instead of having the free market dictate prices. Price ceilings and floors are price controls imposed by a government to dictate the maximum and minimum price of goods.

Lopez noted that they were doing their best to increase the supply of goods to counteract surging prices even without price control or declaring a state of calamity.

"Ina-address na po itong presyo ng mga bilihin kahit hindi pa 'to dine-declare 'tong state of calamity kaya 'yung mga supply measures, pagpapadagdag ng supply, para bumaba ang presyo ng bilihin," Lopez said.

"As much as possible, ina-address, sino-solve ang mga problemang ito kahit walang price control by increasing the supply," he added.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and other macroeconomic managers recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte the declaration of a nationwide state of calamity to help rehabilitate areas damaged by Typhoon Ompong.

Ompong caused P14.339 billion worth of damage to agriculture alone, with the possibility of the number inflating as the Department of Agriculture (DA) and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) continue their damage assessment. —Rie Takumi/KG, GMA News