The price of corn is gaining momentum, contributing to the accelerated headline inflation in July at 4.4 percent, the highest rate so far this year, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said Tuesday. 

According to the economist-lawmaker, rice is no longer the primary driver of inflation, particularly since its prices have dwindled after being dominant on a year-on-year basis.

"The problem with rice has mostly abated. While rice prices remain elevated year-on-year, month-on-month, prices are declining slightly. I expect this trend to continue as more stocks arrive from India and Vietnam," said Salceda, chairperson of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Salceda highlighted an emerging issue with corn, which the Department of Agriculture strictly monitored as early as April when the country transitioned from El Niño to La Niña.

"There is momentum in the corn price. [Agriculture] Secretary Tiu-Laurel already mentioned that the DA is monitoring the situation as early as April, and I believe efforts are underway to address the issue. At 5.8 percent month-on-month inflation, corn prices are a cause for attention," he said. 

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday that inflation went up to 4.4 percent in July, triggered mainly by the higher cost of food and non-food items, housing prices, utilities, gas and other fuel, meat, corn, and fruits.

The figure is higher than the 3.7 recorded in June and breached the government's target range of 2 to 4 percent since November last year.

Meat prices increased from 3.1 percent to 4.8 percent month-on-month, fruits from 5.6 percent to 8.4 percent, eggs and other dairy products from 1.3 percent to 1.8 percent, and ready-made foods from 5.9 percent to 6.0 percent.

Rice inflation declined from 22.5 in June to 20.9 percent in July, while corn soared from 13.1 percent to 17.5 percent.

Salceda said the problem with corn is that while global trading prices are generally lower year-on-year, domestic livestock, poultry, and dairy sectors cannot rely on imported corn because its nutritive quality significantly diminishes during importation.

"Of course, prices pressures could ease with upholding the minimum access volume system for corn, but that's no structural solution," he said.

He added, "As a result, I've been seeing some increase in the price of poultry, but based on our monitoring of the situation, the price situation in that sector should ease by the time the August report is released — prices are down in August by as much as 12 percent from their July peak."

Salceda bared his plan to meet Laurel on the corn and the broader livestock situation in late August to discuss concerns on livestock, poultry, dairy, and Corn Development Acts, which he principally authored in the House. 

Salceda averred that, in addition to corn, there is also an issue with electricity prices, "but that's a seasonal matter that I expect to moderate by the next few months."

"No appetite in the BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] for policy rate adjustments just yet. But because most of our inflation woes are now single-issue matters, there is some cause for cautious optimism," he said. 

Salceda earlier tagged rice as a dominant driver of the upward trend of food inflation and that the government's game plan must be laser-focused on its prices.