DA: Expect lower rice prices this month

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said rice prices are expected to lower later this month, following the sharp slowdown in the September inflation rate due to the decline in food prices.

Tiu Laurel said rice prices should reflect the reduction in tariffs on imported rice this October.

Tariffs have been cut to 15 percent from 35 percent, alongside the lifting of India’s export ban on rice.

Still, Tiu Laurel said there is usually high demand ahead of and during the Christmas season that could temper the decline in food prices.

A more substantive reduction in rice prices may be seen by January 2025 as the rice inventory imported at higher prices is fully consumed.

Tiu Laurel welcomed the deceleration of inflation to 1.9 percent in September, the slowest since the 1.6 percent recorded in May 2020 during the height of the COVID pandemic.

He noted that the drop in food inflation played a key role in the overall deceleration, especially as rice inflation dropped to 5.7 percent from 14.7 percent in August.

Rice accounts for nine percent of the basket of goods and services used to track inflation.

“Food prices have significantly declined from the highs posted in the same period last year, with vegetables such as onion and tomatoes, sugar, fish and rice leading the way with the help of various interventions of the Marcos administration,” said Tiu Laurel.