PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved a recommendation extending the temporary reduction of tariffs on several goods to “temper inflation,” the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) said.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) earlier recommended the temporary lowering of tariff rates on pork, corn, rice and coal until Dec. 31, 2023.
The move aims “to mitigate and stabilize the impact of inflationary pressures as a result of the Ukraine-Russia crisis, expand supply sources, and reduce the prices of key commodities.”
“The endorsement by the Board’s Committee on Tariff and Related Matters was approved Friday during the NEDA Board meeting presided by President Marcos, who chairs the Board,” the OPS said in a statement on Sunday, Dec. 18.
Under Marcos Jr.’s Executive Order No. 171, tariffs of the following commodities will be adjusted:
* meat of swine, fresh, chilled, or frozen at 15 percent (in-quota) and 25 percent (out-quota)
* corn at 5 percent (in-quota) and 15 percent (out-quota)
* rice at 35 percent (in-quota and out-quota)
* coal at zero duty
Socioeconomic Planning secretary Arsenio Balisacan had said the policy would “provide relief to poor and vulnerable segments of the Filipino population whose welfare is reduced because of high inflation.”
“Through this policy, we shall augment our domestic food supplies, diversify our sources of food staples, and temper inflationary pressures arising from supply constraints and rising international prices of production inputs due to external conflict,” Balisacan said in a statement.
The NEDA chief underscored that the Philippine economy is expected to improve in the near term due to the “expected reopening of China’s economy, moderating global oil prices, easing of aggressive monetary policy tightening, and sustained remittance inflows,” the OPS said. (ABS-CBN News)
