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THE incoming administration can solely convey down the price of rice to round P20 to P30 per kilo if the federal government will assist enhance the productiveness of farmers as a substitute of “blindly” offering subsidies, in accordance with the Nationwide Financial and Growth Authority (Neda).
In a digital briefing on the Kapihan sa Manila Bay on Wednesday, outgoing Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua mentioned there’s room to convey down the worth of rice as a result of Southeast Asian nations are in a position to produce the staple at a decrease value.
Chua mentioned the price of producing rice in Vietnam and Thailand, additionally predominantly rice-consuming nations, are 70 to 100% decrease than within the Philippines. At present, he mentioned, rice averaged P35 to P45 per kilo.
“Kaya naman [it can be done] if we assist farmers enhance productiveness as a substitute of blindly giving subsidies na wala namang na-po-produce na [without] effectivity enhancements and I feel the rice tariffication and the RCEF [Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund] are the instruments to assist obtain these,” Chua mentioned.
The regulation, Republic Act No. 11203, not solely changed quantitative restrictions on imported rice with tariffs, but additionally created the RCEF.
The RCEF consists of an annual appropriation of P10 billion in six years to fund packages for farm mechanization, seed growth, propagation and promotion, credit score help, and extension companies.
These packages had been particularly recognized to enhance the productiveness of rice farmers, cut back manufacturing prices, and hyperlink them to the worth chain.
The surplus from the P10-billion tariff income assortment might be appropriated by Congress the next yr for the direct monetary help to rice farmers, titling of agricultural rice lands, expanded crop insurance coverage program, and crop diversification program.
“The farmers want the assist and the cash is coming from the tariff from the rice tariffication. So, a method to consider it’s, if we modify the rice tariffication regulation, then we won’t have the cash to assist the farmers,” Chua mentioned.
Taxes
APART from the RTL, Chua mentioned, the outgoing administration doesn’t advocate any tweaking of the tax reforms that had been just lately instituted.
For one, Chua mentioned, the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Legislation (TRAIN Legislation) paved the best way for the discount in revenue taxes for 99 % of revenue tax payers.
“Whether or not you’re a person or company, we have now expanded the tax base to fund all of the human capital and infrastructure packages that we’re benefiting from so we don’t advocate altering the current,” Chua mentioned.
Chua added that tweaking or decreasing the excise taxes on gasoline will even not be useful.
The discount of gasoline taxes, he mentioned, will solely favor the richest 10 % of the inhabitants who devour 50 % of gasoline merchandise, lots of whom have their very own vehicles.
Public transport, he mentioned, helps cut back the nation’s dependence on gasoline. That is the rationale for pushing quite a lot of mass transport infrastructure initiatives corresponding to Bus Speedy Transits and railways.
Chua famous that the federal government has additionally offered amenities for various transport corresponding to 500 kilometers of motorcycle lanes, which had been undertaken throughout the pandemic.
The federal government has additionally pushed for the PUV modernization program which advocates for cleaner engines and fuels.
“Even with the excessive gasoline value, the visitors isn’t [easing]. In case you see the roads, that’s as a result of the vast majority of gasoline is consumed by the richer households. So we’ll simply be subsidizing [them]. I’d quite preserve the excise tax and use extra income to assist the commuters,” Chua mentioned.
Income measures to be proposed by the outgoing administration will quickly be unveiled by the Division of Finance (DOF). It can present better element within the administration’s proposed fiscal consolidation plan.
Earlier, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III mentioned sustaining the fuel-marking program might be included within the checklist of their really useful measures for the following financial workforce because it helped beef up revenues for the federal government.
Dominguez mentioned he believes the fuel-marking program must be continued by the incoming administration. (Learn the story right here: www.businessmirror.com.ph/2022/05/17/fuel-marking-among-dofproposals-to-new-admin/).
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