MANILA – Trade secretary Ramon Lopez on Saturday maintained that the increase in prices of the more costly bread, particularly the Gardenia brand, are really due to schedule, after holding off their price increases in the past few months.
Lopez however clarified that those expensive bread brands are not covered by DTI’s suggested retail prices (SRP).
“‘Yung tinapay, nag-request sila ng increase. Actually ‘yung mga brand ng tinapay na ‘yon, mag-i-increase daw sila P1 to P2. Ito ‘yung mga brand na tingin namin medyo mahal. Hindi ito covered ng SRP namin. Ang talagang covered ng SRP natin ‘yung pangkaraniwang tasty – ang tatak ay Pinoy Tasty,” he said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.
“Itong mahal na ito – sabihin ko na ‘yung brand, ‘yung Gardenia – nu’ng nagtaasan lahat, itong mga tinapay na ito hindi nagtataas. ‘Yun nga ang nakakataka din, tinigilan nila,” he added.
The DTI secretary said the more costly bread brands are “programmed” to increase their prices after two to three months after the recent price hike in goods and commodities.
Inflation or the rate of increase in the prices of goods and services clocked in at 6.2 percent during the third quarter of 2018, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Friday. (GMA News/PN)
