President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has rejected the proposal of his economic team to bring down tariffs on imported rice to further bring down its cost.
During a meeting Tuesday (September 26), Marcos said he believes that a tariff reduction is not timely as harvest season comes around.
“Inihayag ni PBBM kasama ang agriculture at economic managers nito na hindi pa ito ang tamang oras upang pababain ang taripa sa bigas dahil ang projection sa presyo ng world rice ay inaasahang bababa na,” Malacañang said in a statement.
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier touted the lowering of tariffs as an alternative to the price ceiling imposed by Marcos on rice.
He said it was necessary to slash the tariff on rice from 35% to 10% to make the price of rice cheaper.
The price cap that began on Sept. 5 set a P41 per kilogram ceiling price on regular-milled rice and P45 a kilo for well-milled rice.