THE average retail price of rice in the fourth week of November has sunk to its lowest level in three years to as much as P36.67 per kilogram since the government eased rules on importation, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed.
In its weekly monitoring report, the PSA said the average retail price of well-milled rice (WMR) during the reference period declined by 10 percent to P41.56 per kg from last year’s P46.05-per-kg level.
This is the lowest average retail price for WMR since the recorded P41.42 per kg in the fourth week of April 2016, historical PSA data showed.
“At the wholesale trade, the average price of well-milled rice dipped to P37.30 per kg or by 0.1 percent this week from its previous week’s level of P37.33 per kg,” the PSA said in the report, which was published recently.
“Similarly, it declined at an annual rate of 12.3 percent from its level of P42.53 per kg in the same week of the previous year,” it added.
Likewise, PSA data showed that the average retail quotation of regular-milled rice declined by 13.62 percent year-on-year to P36.67 per kg, the lowest level since the P36.66 per kg recorded in first week of April 2016.
“On the average, the wholesale price of regular milled rice decreased to P33.12 per kg or by 0.3 percent during the week from its previous week’s level of P33.22 per kg,” the PSA said.
“On an annual basis, it dropped by 16 percent from its level of P39.43 per kg in the same week of the previous year,” it added.
Government officials and experts have attributed the plunge in retail price of the staple to higher imports entering the country after it opened up its domestic market following the enactment of Republic Act 11203 or the rice trade liberalization law.
In the same report, the PSA said the average farm-gate price of palay or unmilled rice continued its recovery for the fourth straight week.
As of November fourth week, the nationwide average quotation of palay slightly inched up to P15.57 per kg from the previous week’s P15.52 per kg, PSA said.
“Meanwhile, it was still on a downtrend as it dropped at an annual rate of 22.3 percent from its level of P20.05 per kg in the same week of the previous year,” it added.