Philippines sets ceiling on rice prices

Rice dealers display rice and their prices at New York Street, Cubao, Quezon city, the Philippines on April 16, 2023. (Photo: https://www.philstar.com/)

Hanoi (VNA) - The Philippines has imposed ceilings on rice prices across the country amid an “alarming” increase in retail costs of the staple grain and reports of hoarding by traders.

This is a measure to stabilise the price of the main commodity of the country when retail prices surge at an "alarming" rate due to the influence of domestic and foreign events.

Accordingly, regular milled rice will be capped at 41 PHP (0.72 USD) per kilogram while well-milled rice is at 45 PHP a kilogram. These price ceilings remain in effect until further decision of the President.

The Philippine Department of Agriculture said that the above ceiling prices were all lower than the selling prices of rices on the domestic market as of August 30.

The Philippines is one of the largest grain importers in the world. According to Nikkei Asia, about 90% of the Philippines' rice imports in 2022 came from Vietnam./.

VNA