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Philippines: Business groups urge policy review to address inflation
MANILA, Philippines — The head of the Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Organization (Philfoodex) wants the government to review current policies, particularly on agriculture, that could help bring down rising costs.
In a press conference, Philfoodex president Roberto Amores said that the rising inflation number is a “wake up call” for the government.
“Wake up and look at the policy directions. It’s more of reviewing the policies,” Amores said, who is also the chairman of agriculture committee of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).
“It’s about time that our policy makers review and revise certain policies that are no longer contributing to the agenda of government. Truly, we hope that we all find a common solution to this lingering problem of productivity and competitiveness int he agri-food sector,” Amores said.
Last week, the Philippine Statistics Authority(PSA) reported that headline inflation in August surged by 6.4 percent, higher than the 2.6 percent registered in August last year and the 5.7 percent rate in July 2018.
PCCI honorary chairman Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said the August inflation figure is not at an alarming level as previous administrations have seen higher inflation figures.
He added that it is not alarming since the country knows the cause of the increase in prices, which is food inflation,driven by prices of rice, sugar, fish and vegetables.
The government’s economic managers earlier attributed the rise in headline inflation to the increase in the food index as it registered at 8.5 percent.
“We call on our leaders (in government) to drastically and pro-actively implement measures that would minimize if not avert the negative impact of rising cost. We know for a fact that we have not been rice self-sufficient in the last 20 years, thus a program of regular importation equivalent to the projected shortfall should be part of the policy although this is not the long term solution of ensuring national food security,” Amores said
He added that the pending rice tariffication bill is a welcome development if it would mean helping stabilize the price of rice in the domestic market and ensure its sufficient stock not to the detriment of farmers.
The bill seeks to amend Republic Act (RA) 8178, otherwise known as the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996, which will pave the way for the replacement of the quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice imports with tariff.
In a statement, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said rice import restrictions have caused the price of rice over the years to remain high. Equally disturbing is that the supply, and eventually the price, of this commodity are also affected by the smuggling operation in the south.
“The NFA(National Food Authority) and the NFA Council need to get its act together immediately if only to restore an adequate supply nationwide, inclusive of buffer stocks free from bukbuk.This will alleviate for now the inflation expectation and ease demand pull pressures for this commodity,” ECOP said.
It added that in the near term, government must seriously address the effectiveness of NFA in fulfilling its mandate and decide firmly and soonest on the rice tariffication bill.
Meanwhile, apart from rice, Amores emphasized that policies in the sugar industry is also something that government should look into.
Amores emphasized that need for imported sugar,as these can be bought by food processors at lower costs at around P26 to P28 per kilo compared to local prices of P60 to P65 per kilo.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2018/09/12/1850649/business-groups-urge-policy-review-address-inflation#gcKvJZdM1E84jb2p.99