The National Food Authority (NFA) said Wednesday it stands to gain P557.3 million in additional revenue, following the approval of higher rice selling price to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr., who chairs the NFA Council, said the increase would boost the agency’s financial standing and procurement capacity.
“The higher selling price agreed to by the DSWD will help not only reduce NFA losses, but also give it additional resources to buy more palay from our farmers,” he said.
The NFA’s incurred a net loss of P6.19 billion in 2023, while fulfilling its mandate to procure palay from local farmers to maintain a 9-day buffer stock of rice.
“It not only reduces NFA losses but also provides additional resources to purchase more palay from our farmers, strengthening our commitment to food security,” said Tiu Laurel.
NFA administrator Larry Lacson said the additional revenue would allow NFA to buy more palay from farmers to boost the government corporation’s rice buffer and increase farmers’ income.
“At a buying price of P28 a kilo of palay the additional revenue from our sales to DSWD will allow us to buy an additional 400,000 50-kilo bags of palay. That’s easily 12,600 metric tons of incremental rice supply,” said Lacson.
“We thank the DSWD for their understanding and support of this price adjustment,” he said.
Lacson assured consumers that the price increase, from P25 to P38 per kilogram for the DSWD and other agencies, would not affect the market price of rice.
This follows the NFA Council’s earlier decision to increase the palay buying price range to P17 to P30 per kilogram, enabling the NFA to compete with private traders amid the challenges posed by El Niño and the previous impact of India’s rice export ban.
The adjustment significantly improved the NFA’s procurement capacity, with 3.5 million 50-kilo bags of palay purchased by the end of the first half of the year, compared to less than 200,000 bags prior to the to the NFA Council decision in June 2024.
