DA: Sugar prices down to P95/kilo; rice, sugar supply sufficient

The Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that the country's supply of rice and sugar are sufficient until next year, with the cost of sugar products now down to P95 per kilo.

Interviewed on GMA News’ Unang Balita, DA Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Kristine Evangelista said the sugar supply is better now compared to the previous months due to the milling season of the local producers.

“Nakikita na natin na there were months na P120 umabot ang ating refined, ngayon nasa P95 na po,” she said, adding that the Sugar Regulatory Authority (SRA) will be continuously coordinating with local traders.

(There were months when our refined sugar reached P120, now it is at P95.)

Evangelista said based on the supply situation, prices of sugar may stabilize until next year.

“That is the objective. We are looking at the cost structure, now we see it at P95. Although meron tayong of course tinitignan na pwedeng mag P90, pero meron tayong kino-consider na factors, also taking into consideration ‘yung mga movement ng gasolina,” she said.

(We are looking at P90, but we are considering several factors and also taking into consideration the movement of gasoline prices.)

“At P95, maganda po ‘tong presyong ‘to and [P95 is a good price] we want to maintain this price as much as possible,” she continued.

Evangelista also allayed concerns of consumers on the rice supply, saying it is sufficient until the first quarter of 2023.

“Based sa supply data ng Department of Agriculture, at ito ay sa pakikipag-ugnayan din ng mga ibang stakeholders tulad ng SINAG, we are sufficient pagdating po sa bigas. Marami po tayong na-produce na local rice at base po doon, hanggang first quarter nga, marami po,” she said.

(Based on the supply data of the Department of Agriculture, and this is also through the coordination with other stakeholders such as SINAG, we are sufficient when it comes to rice. We have produced a lot of local rice and we have a lot of supply until the first quarter of next year.)

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.'s campaign promise was to reduce the price of rice to as low as P20 per kilo.

In November, Marcos said the Philippines was close to achieving the aspiration of lowering the price of rice to P20 per kilo, but pointed out that there were still a lot of things which needed to be done in order to achieve the goal.—AOL, GMA Integrated News