Rice policy fails to meet objectives: WB

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Despite billions of pesos spent by the Philippine government to stabilize rice prices and supply, a lead economist of the World Bank said today that cheap rice remains inaccessible to the poor.

World Bank lead economist Rogier van den Brink said that based on performance, the country's rice policy has not been "efficient. "

For one, van den Brink said only 11.5 percent of rice purchased by the poor came from state-run National Food Authority (NFA) which has been mandated to sell cheap rice.

"(Also), rice stabilization comes at the cost of much higher prices and the widening gap between farm gate and retail prices suggest an inefficient marketing system," van den Brink said in a forum held in Makati City, the Philippines' business district.

He also noted that a "significant gap" still remains between rice production and consumption and that the government's purchases of unmilled rice from farmers is "too little to make a difference."

This, despite the mounting debts of state-run NFA which has reached P140 billion ($3.1 billion) as of 2013. The NFA borrows from commercial banks to finance the government's rice importation and carry out its mandate of buying unmilled rice from farmers at a high price and selling it low to the public.