Rice drove inflation up despite price ceiling: economist

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Vendors tend to their stalls selling rice at the Kamuning Market in Quezon City on August 9, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/08/22/20230809-rice-kamuning-market-jc-3.jpg"/><figcaption>Vendors tend to their stalls selling rice at the Kamuning Market in Quezon City on August 9, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — The government&#x27;s rice price ceiling did little to rein in the commodity&#x27;s rising cost and its impact on inflation in the country, an economist said on Saturday. President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. in September imposed a rice price ceiling for regular milled rice at P41 per kilo and well-milled rice at P45 per kilo to keep the price of the staple stable. He <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/04/23/marcos-lifts-rice-price-cap">lifted </a>this order on October 4, citing increased supply because of the local rice harvest in the last quarter of the year. Apart from an increase in global prices, Marcos said in September that local prices went up because of &quot;hoarding by opportunistic traders and collusion among industry cartels in light of the lean season.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/spotlight/10/03/23/survey-inflation-still-top-national-concern-of-filipinos">Survey: Inflation still top national concern of Filipinos</a></li></ul>&quot;Bagamat bumaba ang average ng presyo ng well-milled rice at regular-milled rice, hindi naman saklaw ng price caps &#x27;yung special at premium rice. Base sa datos patuloy pa rin siyang nasa mataas na lebel,&quot; JC Punongbayan, who has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of the Philippines, told Radyo 630. (While the average prices of well-milled and regular-milled rice was lower, the price cap did not cover special and premium varieties. Data showed the prices of these rice types were still high.)&quot;Ibig sabihin, hindi nakatulong &#x27;yung price cap ng gobyerno para awatin yung epekto ng bigas sa inflation,&quot; he said. (This means that the price cap did not help to control the rice&#x27;s impact in the inflation.)Inflation is the rate that prices increase within a specific period.<div> RICE, VEGETABLE PRICES UP</div>The inflation rate has also increased in the past two months, he noted, with rice and vegetables as the main drivers.Punongbayan also noted that prices of some goods continue to increase while salaries have not.&quot;Fixed naman &#x27;yan sa ilang buwan o isang taon (salary) pero &#x27;yung presyo ng mga bilihin, pataas ang presyo. So pakunti nang pakunti ang nabibili natin o &#x27;yung purchasing power ay bumababa habang tumataas ang inflation,&quot; said Punongbayan. (Salaries are fixed for several months or up to a year but commodity prices continue to increase. We can buy less and less because our purchasing power goes down as inflation increases.) <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/spotlight/10/03/23/survey-inflation-still-top-national-concern-of-filipinos">Survey: Inflation still top national concern of Filipinos</a></li></ul>&quot;Kung hindi sana tumaas nang grabe &#x27;yung presyo ng bigas, siguro stable o mas mababa pa sana &#x27;yung inflation rate,&quot; he said. (If rice prices did not increase significantly, inflation could have been stable or lower.)The economist added that while the government said there may be more than enough rice for the rest of the year, El Niño remains a threat globally. &quot;Inaasahan na baka magkagipitan ulit ng supply hindi lang dito sa Pilipinas kundi sa iba ring bansa,&quot; he said,Nagsimula na nga ang India na mag-restrict o pigilan ang exports nila... baka sumunod na rin ang ibang bansa,&quot; he said. He noted that India has restricted rice exports to ensure domestic supply and that other rice exporters might follow suit.Inflation quickened in September as food prices rose, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Despite the government imposing a price cap on rice, the consumer price index <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/10/05/23/inflation-quickens-in-september-to-61-percent">climbed to 6.1 percent</a> in September, faster than the 5.3 percent in August, added the PSA. The Department of Agriculture has said the government is seeing a more <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/10/06/23/no-rice-price-hikes-expected-until-early-2024-agri-dept">stable supply of rice</a> following the onset of the harvest season and the expected arrival of importsIt also expects rice prices to stay the same until early 2024.<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2833599" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

'Hindi nakatulong 'yung price cap ng gobyerno para awatin yung epekto ng bigas sa inflation.'

Rice drove inflation up despite price ceiling: economist | ABS-CBN

Halalan 2025

Entertainment

News

Metro.Style

Lifestyle

Sports

More

Traffic

Horoscope

Spotlight

Rice drove inflation up despite price ceiling: economist

Rice drove inflation up despite price ceiling: economist

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 07, 2023 02:37 PM PHT

Read More:

Rice

inflation

JC Punongbayan

price cap

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.