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THE
government is not open to reducing rice tariffs and
thinks any tariff below 12 percent will affect its
revenues, according to the National Economic and
Development Authority (Neda).
Neda
Acting Director General Augusto Santos told reporters
that reducing the rice tariffs to any rate below 12
percent will endanger the government’s goal of achieving
a balanced budget this year.
“If the
tariff cut will be below 12 percent, it will affect the
revenue of the government. We will allow the private
sector to import rice, but we will maintain the
50-percent tariff,” Santos said.
Santos
said imposing a 12-percent tariff on imported rice is
still manageable, though, and would not affect the
government’s revenue generation.
The
government earlier lifted the quota on rice importation
amid the rising prices of the commodity, but did not
lower the tariff rate.
Should
the government decide to lower the tariff, said Santos,
the rate should be “deficit-neutral.”
Apart
from negatively affecting government revenues, Santos
said reducing tariffs will cause as many as 2 million
farmers or a total 10 million Filipinos to suffer. An
average Filipino family is composed of five members.
“We have
to take care of our Filipino farmers,” Santos stressed.
Meanwhile, to ease the pressure on rice supply, Santos
recommended that government instead focus on the proper
distribution of subsidized rice sold by the National
Food Authority (NFA).
The
latest data from the Bureau of Agriculture Statistics
(BAS) showed that well-milled NFA rice sells for P18.25
per kilo while well-milled commercial rice is sold
within the range of P32 to P35 per kilo at retail
outlets and P34 per kilo at groceries and supermarkets.
Other
commercial rice sold in the market are the fancy,
premium, and regular milled, which cost P36 to P50, P34
to P38, and P30 to P34 per kilo in retail outlets.
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