By Junex Doronio
MANILA — Expect to tighten belts more as rice inflation may remain elevated until July of this year, making the envisioned P20 per kilo an impossible dream at this point.
On Tuesday, National Statistician Dennis Mapa disclosed that the rice inflation figures are the highest seen since the 22.9 percent recorded in March 2009.
“Sa world market, mataas ang presyo ano, so tinitingnan natin ang–in fact, sa discussion with Department of Agriculture, nakikita nila na patuloy ang pagtaas,” Mapa said.
He noted that the cost of regular milled rice averaged at P49.65 per kilo in January, up from P39.60/kilo recorded the year before and P48.48/kilo in December.
Well-milled rice prices also went up to P54.91/kilo, higher than the P43.92/kilo in January 2023 and the P53.82 in December.
It was observed that special rice prices also increased to P63.90/kilo, higher than January 2023’s P53.76/kilo, and December 2023’s P63.8/kilo.
“So, sa ngayon nakikita natin na compared to last year, kanina, mga P10-11 yung increase. Mababang inflation rate as I mentioned (noong) January of 2023 hanggang mga July of 2023. So kung patuloy na parang ganito yung presyo, dahil may base nga tayo, ang expectation natin is that we will have rice inflation in the vicinity of 20 percent or higher hanggang mga July,” Mapa explained.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said inflation reached a 14-year high of 8.7 percent in January 2023 as prices of onions and sugar soared.
(el Amigo/MNM)
