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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider DOF: RTL law tweaks must keep NFA debts in check

DOF: RTL law tweaks must keep NFA debts in check

Published May 15, 2024 07:47 am

The Department of Finance (DOF) will review the proposed amendment to the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) to ensure that the debts from the National Food Authority (NFA) do not inflate.

Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said that the law is working, however, he noted that some tweaks should be done to manage the debts of NFA.

“We're studying it right now. We're looking at it right now. But so far, I think the RTL is working. Okay. Maybe we can tweak it a bit to allow NFA for... for emergency purposes,” Recto told reporters late Tuesday, May 14.

“With the tweaking, we will make sure that the debts of NFA do not balloon,” he added.

In 2018, the debt incurred by the NFA reached P140 billion which it said was due to “cost of government’s commitment and policy to make rice available, affordable and accessible to the poor and marginalized sectors, and to stabilize palay and rice supply and prices at the farm and consumer levels.”

On the other hand, it cut its net loss by 38 percent in 2021 to P9.6 billion from P15.44 billion under the RTL, according to the data from the finance department.

The House of Representatives earlier approved on second reading the measure seeking amendments to restore the price stabilization and supply regulation functions of the NFA.

The bill proposes that the Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary, upon the recommendation of the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) or Local Price Coordinating Council (LPCC), may declare a food security emergency when there is a shortage in the supply of rice; sustained increase in the price of rice; or extraordinary increase in the price of rice.

Specifically, it aims to lower rice prices to less than P30 a kilo.

Based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, the farmgate price of palay increased to P24.06 per kilogram during the first quarter, up by 6.7 percent P22.56 per kilogram recorded previously.

Meanwhile, palay production stood at 5.23 million metric tons, which is an increase of 5.0 percent from the previous quarter’s 4.98 million metric tons. 
 

Related Tags

Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) Department of Finance (DOF) National Food Authority (NFA) ralph recto
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