President Marcos' chief economic manager said that despite the global decline in prices, the consistently high local costs of rice remain a key concern.

In a statement, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto pointed out the substantial price gap of rice between the current market prices and those of last year, amounting to around P10.5 per kilo.

Recto noted that this broad price difference persists despite the global decrease in rice prices and the slowdown in rice inflation.

“Domestic prices are still high, currently ranging from P51.24 to P64.50 per kilo, significantly higher than last year's P40.75 to P54.30 per kilo,” Recto noted.

In May, rice inflation already decelerated for the third striaght month to 23 percent from 23.9 percent in the previous month.

“While rice posted a slower annual increase in May, it remains a key concern as rice inflation is still above 20 percent,” Recto said.

The inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent of households stood higher at 5.3 percent compared to the headline rate of 3.9 percent, with rice inflation accounting for over 80 percent of this increase.

“We are vigilantly tracking persistent inflation drivers and employing a whole-of-government approach in crafting data-driven policy measures to effectively counter their effects in a sustainable manner,” Recto said.

“Our top priority is to ensure that the majority of Filipinos, especially the poor and vulnerable sector, benefit from these interventions,” he added.