THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is unlikely to approve any upward price adjustment for basic and prime commodities until the end of the year.
At the sidelines of the press conference organized by the DTI for Consumer Welfare Month, DTI director Marcus Valdez said there is no reason for prices to go up as consumers wait for the holiday season to come.
This means that manufacturers of sardines, canned meat products, and other basic goods with suggested retail prices, would have to wait for next year to push for adjustments in prices.
But several manufacturers have already pulled out their request to adjust prices, after consultation with the DTI through the efforts of Trade secretary Alfredo Pascual.
These include makers of bottled water, candles, condiments, bread, and toilet soap.
However, some manufacturers are likely to get the increase they want through DTI’s adoption of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ program to do rounding up to the next amount divisible by 25 centavos due to difficulty in the circulation of coins.
For example, an item that costs P12.65 should theoretically be P12.75 to comply with the request that the total cost should be divisible by P0.25.
But while Pascual said the direction will be to round up, his director said manufacturers need to apply if they want to adjust prices to the nearest amount divisible by 25 centavos.
If a manufacturer requests for a rounding up, in a sense, it will increase the price of its product. For example, if the current price is P12.60, the round-up price would be P12.75 or an increase of P0.15/item.
The DTI, meanwhile, said it will release the price guide for noche buena products next week.
These holiday staples have no suggested retail price and are therefore allowed to increase prices without approval from the government.
According to sources, prices of noche buena items that are going up include ham, imported cheese and pasta products. (ABS-CBN News)
