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PH yet to 'perfect' rice importation, full self-sufficiency unlikely: economist

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MANILA -- The Philippine government has yet to perfect its system for importing rice because it has yet to accept that it can never be fully self-sufficient, an economist said Wednesday.Speaking on ANC&#x27;s Market Edge, University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&amp;P) Senior Economist Dr. Bernardo Villegas said the way the Philippines addresses its rice supply issues is a &quot;result of decades of wrong rice policy.&quot;&quot;Imports will always be necessary. But it’s very clear that we don’t know how to manage to import rice,&quot; he noted.He said the country could have accepted early on that it could never be 100 percent self-sufficient in rice as it lacks Thailand&#x27;s and Vietnam&#x27;s access to rivers. &quot;If 20 or 30 years ago, we, like Malaysia, had set our so-called sufficiency level at 70-80 percent and always imported the rest, we would have perfected both helping our small rice farmers improve their productivity and all the mechanics of importing,&quot; he said.He said that even with improvements in productivity, the Philippines &quot;will never be able to reach the cost-effectiveness of Vietnam and Thailand.&quot; &quot;And so we have to accept the fact that we will always be importing some amount of rice, so that it will always be a two-edged sword approach,&quot; he said. Villegas said imposed price caps on rice must eventually be lifted.&quot;<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/01/23/marcos-jr-sets-p41-p45-price-ceilings-on-rice-nationwide">Price caps</a>, in the long term, never work. Because they actually will cause an artificial shortage, and then eventually, the prices will go up again,&quot; he said.After slowing down for six months, inflation again quickened in August to 5.3 percent following increases in fuel and food prices, particularly rice.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/05/23/inflation-quickens-to-53-percent-in-august">Inflation quickens to 5.3 pct in August as rice, fuel costs rise</a></li></ul>

The Philippine government has yet to perfect its system for importing rice, an economist said. 