MANILA – The Agricultural Committee of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce Industry, Inc. (PCCI) urged the government to implement policies that would address the impact of inflation on the price of sugar.
With inflation clocking in at 6.4 percent in August – the fastest in over nine years – economic managers have agreed on measures to address food inflation, which includes ordering the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to open importation of sugar for direct users.
The PCCI presented data showing that around 5,000 local processors of sugar-based products have been affected by the prices.
As the local price of sugar has reportedly breached the P60-per-kilo mark, the PCCI said domestic food processors could save up to P26 to P28 per kilo if they would be allowed to directly import the commodity for their businesses.
“We are calling [on the] government, the Department of Agriculture, who has administrative control over the SRA, to prepare certain administrative orders that will allow the domestic processors to import sugar in order to be competitive,” PCCI’s agriculture committee chairman Roberto Amores said.
The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) also expressed concern over the inflation’s impact on companies, particularly in terms of the cost of operations and services, as well as employment.
“Ang main concern ng mga kumpanya ay ‘yung cost of operation nila and basically, cost of service nila and fuel. Tumataas ‘yung cost of services,” ECOP president Sergio Ortiz-Luis said.
According to the ECOP, employers might grant salary hikes to an extent that would only cause prices to soar higher.
“‘Yung mga kumpanyang hindi kaya, nagtataas ng presyo at nagbabawas ng empleyado, ganu’n ang nangyayari every year,” Ortiz-Luis said. (GMA News)
