NEDA to submit proposal on lower rice tariff

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is eyeing to submit its recommendation on the reduced rice tariff today as it continues to undertake efforts to ensure access to the staple despite external factors that can influence its prices.

- By ALEXIS ROMERO

Executive Order 62, which took effect last July, slashed rice tariff from 35 percent to 15 percent, a move that officials said could lower the price of the staple to P29 per kilo.

The rice tariff shall be subject to review every four months.

"We're now finalizing the report. (We) will submit that report to the President, hopefully tomorrow (Nov. 29)," NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said at a press briefing yesterday in Malacañang.