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Philippines to aggressively ramp up pork imports to tackle price rises

Published 02/09/2021, 04:21 PM
Updated 02/09/2021, 04:30 PM
© Reuters.

MANILA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The Philippines plans to increase
pork imports this year to roughly 400,000 tonnes, more than
double the initial proposal, as it seeks to cover a domestic
shortfall that has pushed market prices higher, its farm
minister said on Tuesday.
A government advisory panel has endorsed the import volume
for approval, which is much higher than the 162,000 tonnes
planned earlier, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a
briefing. The Southeast Asian country, among the world's biggest pork
importers, is under increasing pressure to boost supply of the
meat, a mainstay in the Filipino diet, after African swine fever
outbreaks reduced hog inventories.
Philippine inflation hit a two-year high in January, partly
due to higher pork prices. Creeping inflation suggests that the room to maintain an
accommodative monetary policy to support recovery of the
country's pandemic-hit economy might be narrowing, some
economists have said.
"We have a potential deficit of almost 400,000 metric
tonnes, so we need supply augmentation," Dar said.
The plan is still subject to a review by a Cabinet panel
before it is recommended for final approval by President Rodrigo
Duterte.
The public shock over spikes in meat prices has also
prompted the government to allot billions of pesos for hog
repopulation and impose a two-month price cap for both pork and
chicken in the capital region starting this week.

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