No need for SRP hike moratorium: DTI

“We don’t have any issue on manufactured goods,” said Lopez, who is also the NPCC chair. (File Photo: PTV/Facebook)

MANILA — A moratorium on increasing suggested retail prices (SRPs) on basic goods may be unnecessary at this time despite rising inflation, the top trade official said.

According to Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, rising price pressures are not driven by manufactured goods, but by supply constraints on some agricultural products and increasing world oil prices.

This week, Laban Konsyumer Inc. led by former trade undersecretary Victorio Mario Dimagiba proposed to the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) a moratorium on increasing SRPs of basic necessities and prime commodities as inflation remains elevated.

“We don’t have any issue on manufactured goods,” said Lopez, who is also the NPCC chair. He added that prices of 80 percent of basic goods and prime commodities remain stable and only 20 percent introduced price increase of around 5 percent on their products.

Lopez said prices of these products increased due to higher prices of raw material, particularly tin plates used by canned goods manufacturers, coupled with rising oil prices and depreciating peso.

“Let’s focus on those products affected by higher world oil prices and some agricultural commodities,” he added.

“There are lot of oil-dependent products and services — transport, utilities, power, and water,” Lopez told reporters after the NPCC meeting earlier this week.

“We all pray that the world oil price will really settle down. That is the big factor behind this. But with the government, what we can really ensure is to make sure that there will be no shortage of supplies in these products, and we allow more supply to come in. If the local production is insufficient, we allow importation,” he said.