Subsidized rice back by next week, says NFA

The National Food Authority (NFA) has assured consumers that subsidized rice would be back in the market starting next week.

Subsidized NFA rice varieties, priced at P27 and P32 per kilogram, respectively, have not been available in the market since the first week of April in view of the depletion of the agency’s stocks.

In an interview during the agency’s open tender bidding for rice importation yesterday, NFA spokesperson Rex Estoperez said consumers could expect NFA rice in public markets upon the arrival of rice procured by the agency under a government-to-government arrangement.

The 250,000 metric tons (MT) of rice from Vietnam and Thailand are expected to come in starting next week in various ports nationwide.

Estoperez said the presence of NFA rice in the markets would lower the prices of the staple. In the latest price monitoring report of the Philippine Statistics Authority, the average retail prices of regular-milled and well-milled rice have reached P40 and P43 per kg, respectively.

“The priority is to stabilize the supply and prices of rice first before we go to buffer stocking,” he said.

On Tuesday, the NFA held an open tender bidding for the procurement of another 250,000 MT of rice. The shipments are expected to start coming in by July.

The NFA council approved the importation of a total of 500,000 MT of rice this year, although Estoperez said there had been proposals for additional importation. The proposals are yet to be tackled by the NFA policy-making body, he said.

At present, Estoperez said the agency’s rice inventory was still zero, noting that the NFA did not have the capacity to procure palay (unmilled rice) from local farmers especially now that its farmgate price had climbed to P20.96 per kg.

The agency’s palay procurement price still stands at P17 per kg. Without the approval of the NFA Council, the NFA cannot increase its buying price and has to resort to importation to replenish its stocks.