DTI: Rice price could drop to P30-P32 per kilo with implementation of Rice Tariffication Law

The price of rice could drop to P30 to P32 as the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law has already started, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said on Monday.

Under the Rice Tariffication Law, private sector traders are allowed to import rice without limits as long as they pay the 35-percent tariff and secure a permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry.

“Kapag marami na kasing nag-import na yan at nagpapababaan ng presyo , maaari tayong makakita ng P30 to P32 (na presyo ng bigas kada kilo),” Lopez said in a forum.

He said that cheaper prices of rice can be felt three weeks after the law’s implementation.

But because some private sector traders applied early, two weeks after the implementation of the law, low-priced rice is already available in leading supermarkets, according to Lopez.

Photo by Joviland Rita

The Trade secretary said that the National Food Authority (NFA) is creating a buffer stock of rice which they can sell to market when their storage is full.

“Yung buffer stock na yun kailangan din pong paikutin njla para hindi mapuno. Eventually nun, ire-release din nila sa market,” Lopez said.

“Pwede pa rin yung ibenta sa P28 o P30,” he added.

The NFA Council and the government will decide whether the stock can be sold to the market, Lopez said.

“We will see more of cheaper rice,” Lopez said. — RSJ, GMA News