Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Monday blamed higher prices of goods on the “incompetence” of the National Food Authority.
At the Samahang Plaridel forum at the Manila Hotel, Diokno said higher inflation could not be completely blamed on the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law, but on higher world oil prices, over which the government has no control, and the NFA, which declared a rice shortage.
“The price of rice went up, not because of TRAIN, but due to the incompetence of the people at the NFA,” Diokno said in Filipino.
In April, the NFA said its rice buffer stock had been depleted and called for imports.
But the NFA did not heed the advice of economic managers to let private companies import rice, which would have cut prices by about P7 a kilo, Diokno said.
“They didn’t listen to us. The wrong announcement also triggered a panic in the market,” Diokno said.
Diokno said prices should normalize by the second half as fuel and rice prices have already begun to drop.
Despite the rise in inflation from 4.5 percent in April to 4.6 percent in May, Diokno said month-on-month rates have been going down.
In the face of calls to suspend TRAIN, Diokno said tax reform should not be suspended simply because of inflation.
The Department of Trade and Industry, however, said TRAIN has also raised the prices of canned goods.
Based on the latest suggested retail price issued by the department on June 8, the prices of canned products such as corned beef, meatloaf, and sardines marked an increase of 55 centavos to 90 centavos.