Manila: Taking a step to curb inflation, the Philippine government has decided to sell sugar at a fixed price to the consumers, said the Department of Agriculture on Monday.
It has issued a statement stating that the sugar importers have been asked to commit 10% of their import allocation for the crop year 2022/23 to be sold through the department or the Sugar Regulatory Administration at 70 pesos per kg.
The prices of refined sugar have crossed 100 pesos per kg in the domestic market in recent months which have doubled since the end of 2021. This has resulted in the government appealing to traders to lower the prices by 40%.
The hike in food prices has resulted in the country’s inflation running at a four-year high.
The country is importing an additional 150,000 tonnes of sugar as the sweetener output in the southeast Asian country is lower than expected. Half of the imported sugar will be used by the industries and the remaining half will be reserved for consumers.
