|
|
|
Wednesday March 19, 5:36 AM
Philippines buys 237.5 million dollars of imported riceThe Philippine government has bought 335,500 tonnes of rice for 237.5 million dollars to offset an expected shortfall in domestic production, the National Food Authority (NFA) said Tuesday. The rice will be imported mainly from Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan, said the NFA which is the agency tasked with importing rice, the country's staple.
President Gloria Arroyo meanwhile tried to allay public fears of any shortage saying that state granaries were well stocked. "It may be a bit more expensive, but there will be no shortage. Supply will continue," Arroyo said in a speech opening an expressway north of Manila. The Philippines is one of the world's biggest importers of rice. Officials said the government was having difficulty sourcing supplies of up to 1.8 million tonnes of rice this year as prices sky rocket due to rising demand and tight inventories around the globe. The government earlier said it expects to import two million tonnes of rice this year after importing 1.871 million tonnes of rice in 2007, mostly from Vietnam and Thailand. NFA officials would not comment on whether there would be further purchases of imported rice, saying this would depend on local production.
|
|
Copyright ©
2008
AFP. All rights reserved. All information displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.
|
