By Ronnel W. Domingo
Inquirer – October 29, 2007

THE SPIKE IN WORLD PRICES OF oil should not cause increases in the prices of basic goods, according to the National Price Coordinating Council.

However, Trade Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya said there were other factors such as production area, seasonality, ample supply, demand for the product and weather that could affect prices.

Still, Maglaya said producers and manufacturers “generally” assured the council that prices would remain at current levels.

Based on DTI documents, the price of chicken should generally be at about P120 a kilo, pork at P140 a kilo and fish at P80 a kilo.

“Prices of processed and manufactured commodities such as sardines, meat and instant noodles remained the same,” Maglaya said, citing results of the regular market monitoring.

“We got assurance from officials of the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. that there would be no price increase until the Christmas season,” she added, referring to the NPCC meeting held last Friday.

Maglaya added that officials of the United Broilers Raisers Association assured consumers of ample supply of chicken up to the holiday season because of buffer from their special imports.

She said a decrease in prevailing prices of vegetables was also noted compared to mid-October prices, except for the erratic price of tomatoes due to the rainy season.

As for sugar, prices are expected to ease in the next two weeks following an increase in domestic supply.

On the other hand, prices of flour went up 13.4 percent from P680 a bag in September to a range of P735 to P760.

Maglaya said the increase was due to an upsurge in the price of wheat- a major component in making flour- due to a decline in production caused by heavy rains and massive droughts in Eastern Europe and North Africa.

“The price of wheat is still high and we can see that our bakers can no longer shoulder the cost,” Maglaya said.

“We’re looking at increasing the volume of imports through Philippine International Trading Corporation ,” she said. “We will be working with importers of flour to be able to use the PITC line.”

Maglaya added that the DTI would continue to strictly monitor prices of prime commodities and apprehend profiteers that would take advantage of hapless buyers.