THE government is ready to tame unjustifiable price increases of cement and steel products by enticing new players to these industries through the grant of fiscal incentives, the Board of Investments (BOI) said.

Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Elmer Hernandez said mitigating the impact of rising prices is the underlying reason  steel and cement can qualify for various government incentives under the Investment Priorities Plan (IPP).

The production of iron and steel maintained their eligibility for full incentives topped by income tax holiday (ITH) of up to eight years after it was listed under the engineered products heading in the 2008 IPP.

Cement, on the other hand, can qualify under the mining, which is a mandatory inclusion in the IPP pursuant to the Mining Act.

“We qualified cement production for registration with the intention of providing ample supply of cement and subsequently lower the price,” Hernandez told the BusinessMirror.

The 2008 IPP took effect on May 31and the BOI is ready to publish its accompanying specific guidelines.

The steel industry, due to the rising cost of raw materials, has said that its prices already soared by about 50 percent since January and will probably be recovering 30 percent more of their increased production expenses within the year.

Hernandez said they need to make sure that the country will have stable supply and prices of cement and steel products with the massive infrastructure program being undertaken by the government.

Aside from this, the country is also experiencing a boom in the property sector with the rising requirements for housing and offices, especially for the business-process outsourcing industry.

 With this, Hernandez said mechanisms should also be in place to make sure that the incentives to be given by the government to new players in these industries will really translate to lower prices.

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THE government is ready to tame unjustifiable price increases of cement and steel products by enticing new players to these industries through the grant of fiscal incentives, the Board of Investments (BOI) said.

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