The inflation rate for March was higher than expected, which will have consequences for the reduction of interest rates needed to spur economic activity. The increase in inflation is primarily driven by surging prices for rice, fueling inflation in the economy. Without the high prices for rice, the inflation rate would be more tolerable. Food inflation accounted for a significant portion of total inflation, leading to declining approval rates for the President. President Marcos recognized the importance of addressing agricultural productivity but did not achieve significant improvements.
The inflation rate for March was higher than expected. This will have consequences for reduction of interest rates we need to spur economic activity .
Rice is our most politically sensitive agricultural commodity. This is the reason why, over the years, government evolved numerous programs delivering state support for our rice farmers. All these programs notwithstanding, the country has gradually climbed to the status of the world’s biggest rice importer.
Our rice production is immune to all the subsidies and credit programs organized by government. It will continue to be inefficient unless we consolidate and industrialize our farmlands. This sector remains trapped in subsistence mode. We use basically the same technologies and social organizations from the time when our population was under 20 million.
We need to think in roughly the same terms when we try and reimagine our agricultural modernization. We need, most urgently, to extract our rice production from subsistence mode and bring it to industrial mode. Until we begin doing that, we will continue importing more and more while domestic production costs rise.
It used to be that criminal syndicates smuggled cigarettes and industrial goods. Now they smuggle rice and vegetables. There can be no more telling indictment of the extent to which our agriculture has failed us. In a broader sense, we cannot modernize the whole economy on the back of subsistence agriculture. Our agriculture becomes a weak foundation that will collapse all the edifices of a modern economy.Unilab Center for Health Policy launched to help bridge healthcare system gaps in PhilippinesBeautycon 2024: Highlights, spotted celebs, top brands from the beauty event of the year
Thanks to the propensity of many people to post anything and everything about themselves on social media, Filipinos can get a glimpse of what our government officials are doing when our taxes send them overseas on...
Inflation Rate Interest Rates Economic Activity Rice Prices Food Inflation Approval Rates Agricultural Productivity
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