MANILA, Philippines, May 28 ----- Consumers can expect no price increases for basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPCs) in the near future, according to an official of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
“We don’t see an increase in prices anytime soon, at least for the basic necessities and prime commodities in our list,” DTI Consumer Protection Group Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said over the weekend. Asked if the trade department is looking to issue a new suggested retail price (SRP) bulletin before August, Castelo said this would depend on the situation.
“It depends; if there’s going to be a need, maybe. But as you can see, we have been increasing prices slowly because of what’s happening in the country. Of course we need to give comfort to the consumers so that they can breathe,” Castelo said. While it does not expect to increase prices of BNPCs anytime soon, Castelo affirmed that the DTI has some pending requests from manufacturers for price increases particularly for products such as canned sardines, milk and salt. She added that the pending price increase requests covers around 20 stock keeping units (SKUs) in its SRP list. Among the reasons of manufacturers for the price increase requests include higher packaging costs, foreign exchange rates and logistics costs, according to Castelo.
The current in effect SRP bulletin for BNPCs was released by the DTI in February. The latest SRP posted price adjustments in 76 SKUs, while 141 SKUs have retained their prices. Castelo said earlier that the majority of these items had limited adjustment up to 10 percent maximum. In February, she said “58 SKUs adjusted to a maximum of 10 percent, 19 of which are adjusted within one to five percent. Only 18 SKUs are adjusted a little over 10 percent, mostly non-food items.”
Compared to the previous SRP bulletin issued in August 2022, the February SRP bulletin noted price increases in some SKUs of food products such as canned sardines, canned meat, coffee, milk, bread and instant noodles.
Source: philstar.com