Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 7) — Economic managers have agreed to extend a two-year-old Malacañang executive order that cut tariffs on imported pork, corn, and rice, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said on Friday.
Executive Order No. 10, which reduced and pegged the levy on these commodities to so-called Most Favored Nation tariff rates, is expected to expire by yearend.
But with world prices staying \”very much elevated,\” Balisacan said the economic team would not want to see further price pressures by scaling back the tariff to their old rates.
\”As economic managers, we need to extend that until prices in the world market have eased up,\” he told a briefing.
Balisacan, however, clarified that EO 10’s extension would need layers of approval–including from the NEDA Board and the Tariff Commission.
\”There’s a process we have to follow,\” he said.
Economists, like from British banking giant HSBC, last month warned that the inflation headache from rising food prices will likely persist up until early next year when EO 10 expires.
