Prices of rice in local markets are expected to decline soon, as palay farmgate prices are also seen to be slightly lower, said a farmers group on Thursday.

Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura, or Sinag, said that palay farmgate prices can drop to as low as P25 per kilo.

“Yung tuyo na, ibig sabihin pwede nang ibenta from P28 to P30, nasa P26 to P27 nga siya ngayon. Ine-expect natin na baka aabot hanggang P25,” Sinag executive director Jayson Cainglet said in a radio interview.

(The ones that are dry, which means it can be sold from P28 to P30, are now at P26 to P27. We expect it to dip to P25.)

“Ang translation niyan ay nasa dalawa hanggang apat na piso ang pagbaba sa retail ng bigas,” he added, noting that despite rice spikes in some areas, some rice prices in markets still range between P56 and P60, which he said are old stock rice.

(The translation of that is a drop of two to four pesos in the retail price of rice.)

Meanwhile, Cainglet said that the government had lost a big amount in the alleged improper rice buffer stock sale by the National Food Authority (NFA).

“Yung pagkalugi ng gobyerno dahil sa pagbenta ng P25 imbes na P38, kasi ang industry practice, pinakamura mo pwede siyang ibenta sa P40. Ibig sabihin, ang diperensya, P15 kada kilo yung nilugi ng gobyrerno,” saying that it had lost at least P112.5 million due to selling the rice at a lower value.

(The government's loss due to the sale of P25 instead of P38, because in industry practice, you can sell it at P40 for the cheapest price. That means the government lost P15 per kilo.)

“Kung sila magbebenta sa P50, mas malaki talaga, nasa P180 [million] kung naibenta nila nang P50 to P54 yan,” he added.

(If they sell at P50, it's really bigger, around P180 [million] if they sell it at P50 to P54.)

“Kaya nga ang subsidized, imbes na ang makinabang ay yung mahihirap o yung mga nasa emergency o sakunang lugar, eh yung mga trader pa yung nakinabang sa subsidized presyo ng pinagbentahan ng NFA.”

(That's why in subsidized, instead of benefiting the poor or those in emergency or disaster areas, it's the traders who benefited from the subsidized price of what NFA sold.)

Based on the Department of Agriculture's latest price monitoring, imported special rice is priced at P57 to P65 per kilo, while the premium is between P50 and P65.

Imported well-milled, on the other hand, is valued at P50 to P58, while regular-milled is P48 to P51 per kilo.

Meanwhile, local special rice is now at P56 to P66 per kilo, premium is at P50 to P61, well-milled is at P48 to P55, and regular milled is at P49 to P50 per kilo.

The price of rice in the country recorded its highest inflation at the national level in 15 years, as per a report by the Philippines Statistics Authority on Tuesday.

“Our rice inflation in February was recorded at 23.7 percent, last January it was 22.6 percent. This is the major contributor to overall inflation and the inflation of the bottom 30 percent of income households,” said PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa, noting that the recorded price inflation last month was higher than the recorded 24.6 percent in February 2009.