MANILA — The government will decide within the next couple of weeks if it can lift the price ceiling it imposed on rice, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Monday.

"Maybe within two weeks, we should be able to lift or to see whether we can lift the price cap already," Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual told ANC's "Headstart."

Executive Order No. 39, which took effect on September 5, caps regular-milled rice at P41 per kilogram and well-milled rice at P45 a kilogram.

It was welcomed by consumers but led the government to start distributing P15,000 in aid to affected retailers.

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Pascual noted that the rice price cap was "not a standalone measure" and that it was imposed "alongside efforts to address the issue of hoarding, profiteering, smuggling."

HARVESTING SEASON

The trade chief said the government expects 2 million metric tons of rice to be harvested this month.

"[If] we’re talking of the next few weeks we're facing already a harvesting season… in September alone, we expect 2 million metric tons of rice will be harvested and that will be followed also by the entry of some imported rice that would help fill the supply," he said.

"As of now, based on what we hear from the Department of Agriculture, we have sufficient supply of rice until the end of the year," he added.

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