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Different types of rice are sold at the AGora Market in San Juan City on May 7, 2024. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. wants to certify as urgent to lawmakers in Congress the proposed amendments to Republic Act No. 11203 or the rice tariffication law (RTL) to lower rice prices in the country. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

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Rice prices

Arthur Fuentes

Benise Balaoing

Lady Vicencio

ABS-CBN News

MANILA (UPDATE 3) -- The Philippines&#x27; headline inflation further eased to 1.9 percent in September amid slower increases in rice prices, the state statistics authority said Friday.September&#x27;s inflation rate was lower than the 3.3 percent seen in August and was the lowest since May 2020 when the inflation rate plunged to 1.6 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority said. It was even lower than the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas&#x27; forecast range of 2 percent to 2.8 percent.<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qTpa3YPgTQo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div><div> </div>The September clip brought the average inflation for the first nine months of the year to 3.4 percent. The government is targeting to keep inflation between 2 to 4 percent for this year.Slower increases in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which slipped to 1.4 percent in September from 3.9 percent in August, pulled down the overall inflation rate.  &quot;The deceleration of food inflation in September 2024 was primarily brought about by the slower inflation rate of rice at 5.7 percent in September 2024 from 14.7 percent in the previous month. This was followed by vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses with a faster year-on-year decline of 15.8 percent during the month from 4.3 percent annual decrease in August 2024,&quot; the PSA said.National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said rice prices have been falling since July:- Regular milled rice: P50.47 in September vs. P50.90 in July- Well-milled rice: P55.51 in September vs. P55.85 in July- Special rice: P64.05 in September vs. P64.42 in JulyThe government has said that it expects rice prices to actually drop, instead of just having slower price hikes, after the tariffs on imported rice were cut. “Sa rice, may base effect ‘yon. Ang price of rice ay malaki ang inflation in the previous year. May mga pumasok din tayo naman na pagbagsak talaga sa presyo. Una ‘yong vegetables, oils and fats, fish,&quot; Mapa said.(There&#x27;s a base effect in rice as prices surged last year. Prices have also gone down for vegetables, oils and fats, and fish.)Independent economic think tank IBON Foundation meanwhile said the drop in rice prices had external causes. IBON Executive Director Sonny Africa said local rice production should be prioritized to address rice inflation.“Slower inflation is always welcome than higher inflation but not the reason to be complacent. ‘Yong biggest factor talaga sa slowdown ng inflation ay external. ‘Yong pag-weaken ng US dollar, yung pagbaba ng US crude. ‘Yong efforts ng government to lower the tariffs on rice siguro nakatulong ng kaunti ‘yon pero kung hindi siya nakasuporta sa kita ng mga magsasaka, hindi pinamura ang domestic value ng bigas, may problema pa rin tayo,” Africa said. The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) also said that while the reduction of tariffs played a part in lowering rice prices, local agricultural funding should be boosted to complement this short-term measure of lowering tariffs.“While we expect lower tariffs to reduce rice prices, we should continuously support local production through increased agricultural funding to complement this short-term measure,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.The PSA meanwhile also noted that transport costs also had slower annual increases last month compared to August, which contributed to the downtrend.  &quot;Sunod-sunod ‘yong weeks noong September na pababa ang gasoline ang diesel and this contributed to the 1.9 percent [inflation rate],” Mapa said.(There was a series of price rollbacks for diesel and gasoline in September and this contributed to the 1.9 percent inflation rate.)&quot;In addition, a slower inflation rate was recorded for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels during the month at 3.2 percent from 3.8 percent in August 2024,&quot; the PSA said.Core inflation, which strips out food and fuel products prone to wild swings, also fell to 2.4 percent from 2.6 percent in the previous month.For the poorest segment of the population, or the bottom 30 percent, inflation also slowed down to 2.5 percent last month from 4.7 percent in August. The PSA noted that this was the lowest inflation rate for this particular income group since the 2.2 percent inflation rate recorded in May 2020.Food inflation for the bottom 30 percent slowed to 2.1 percent in September from 6 percent in the previous month. In September last year, food inflation for the poorest households was observed at 10.8 percent.NEDA said the slowdown in inflation is expected to boost consumer confidence, drive spending, and fuel business expansion.“Easing food prices will relieve low-income households, enabling them to allocate more to other essential needs such as education and health,” Secretary Arsenio Balisacan added.He said NEDA will take steps to keep the prices of food and other commodities stable.While the September inflation rate settled slightly below the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ initial inflation forecast, the central bank said it remains consistent with its projection that inflation will continue to ease in the next quarters due to negative base effects and easing of supply pressures for key food items.“The September 2024 inflation outturn of 1.9 percent settled slightly below the announced BSP forecast range of 2.0 to 2.8 percent… This latest inflation outturn remains consistent with the BSP’s assessment that inflation will continue to trend downwards over the succeeding quarters due to negative base effects and the easing of supply pressures for key food items,” the BSP said in a statement.The inflation-targeting central bank will also consider the latest inflation print in its upcoming monetary policy meeting on October 16.

Inflation further eased to 1.9 percent in September, the state statistics authority said Friday.

Inflation further eased to 1.9 percent in September, the state statistics authority said Friday.

Inflation eases further in September amid slower increases in rice prices

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Inflation eases further in September amid slower increases in rice prices

Arthur Fuentes,

Benise Balaoing,

Lady Vicencio,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 04, 2024 09:07 AM PHT

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Updated Oct 04, 2024 06:09 PM PHT

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