DA: Rice prices seen to hike by P5 a kilo ASEAN+3 seen to grow by 4.6% in 2023: AMRO

The ASEAN+3 region composed of Southeast Asian countries, China, Japan and Korea is seen to grow by 4.6 percent in 2023, an economic thinktank said on Thursday.

Growth in ASEAN+3 is also expected to hit 4.5 percent in 2024, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) said.

For Asia alone, AMRO forecasts a 4.9 percent growth in 2023 and 5.2 percent in 2023.

“The ASEAN+3 region is expected to remain resilient notwithstanding the strong headwinds of weaker external demand and tighter global financial conditions. The boost in tourism and intraregional trade from the rebound in China’s economy will help mitigate softer external demand from the United States and Europe,” said AMRO Chief Economist, Hoe Ee Khor.

For the Philippines, AMRO said its economy could grow by 6.2 percent in 2023 and 6.5 percent in 2024. However, inflation is seen to remain elevated at 5.9 percent this year before reverting to within target at 3.8 percent in 2024, according to the ASEAN+3 Regional Economic Outlook (AREO).

Retailprices of rice are expected to rise in the next few weeks due to high palay farmgate prices amid the dry season, higher cost of inputs, and low buffer stock, an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

Inflation in the region is expected to moderate to 4.7 percent in 2023 from 6.5 percent the previous year, before “normalizing” to 3 percent in 2024, the report said.

But AMRO said downside risks still loom including the spike in energy prices, a weaker than anticipated China recovery and a slowdown in the US.

“Drawing from the lessons learned from the Asian Financial Crisis, ASEAN+3 financial systems are now more resilient and well-regulated,” said Dr. Khor.

“However, we are living in precarious times. Policymakers need to remain vigilant and continue to rebuild policy buffers. They also need to remain flexible to extend additional support to the economy, if necessary.”

AMRO is also urging the ASEAN+3 economies to work together to boost the region’s net zero drive.

“Our projection is an increase of P5 [per kilo]… that’s the maximum,” DA Assistant Secretary and deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez told reporters in a recent interview.

The DA official cited the high procurement price of rice between P22 and P23 per kilo.

“During the Summer harvest season, prices are normally high because the palay is already dry…

Plus, the cost of inputs are also increasing,” Estoperez said.

“This is a normal occurrence during Summer… Price levels are abnormal and have already reached P23,” he added.

Another factor in the expected increase in the prices of the staple is the lower inventory which is only good for 51 days, a far cry from the comfortable level of 90 days.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that as of January, the rice inventory nationwide fell to 1.77 million metric tons (MT) or by 30.3% from 253 million MT. Year-on-year, rice inventory shrank by 5.1% from 1.86 million MT.

Estoperez said the country’s rice stockpile should be 37,000 MT a day, good for 90 days or 3.33 million MT.

Data from the DA’s price monitoring as of April 4 showed that the price per kilo of local wellmilled rice range from P39 to P46, while the regular-milled variety costs P34 to P40 per kilo.

PLDT, Smart urge clients to secure smart devices

PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications on Thursday said consumers must protect smart devices in their homes to avoid falling prey to cyber criminals.

Hackers are targeting smart devices connected to home networks to steal information, PLDT Inc said in a statement.

“Smart devices are connected to a home network. If your home network is weak, these devices can be taken over by hackers. Imagine, someone suddenly turning on the speakers and blasting inappropriate songs while you are sleeping, or someone using your security camera to spy on you,” warned Angel Redoble, FVP and Chief Information Security Officer at PLDT and Smart.

The telco shared the following tips for smart device safety:

• Secure the router

• The router is where smart devices are connected in the home. Change the default name and password of routers

• Fortify the Home WiFi network

• Key in unique password during setup using a mix of big and small letters, numbers and special characters. PLDT said there should also be separate passwords for the router and WiFi.

• Change devices’ default passwords

• Assign a different password for each smart gadget.

• Regularly update the gadgets’ software to the latest version available.

• Add multi-factor authentication (MFA)

• This is to add another layer of protection.

• Consider using a password manager.

That name, however, happens to be that of the most important person of the 82-year old airline company.

Captain Stanley Ng has not flown an aircraft regularly since his appointment as President and Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the Philippine Airlines in January 2022.

The last memorable flight he did was on November 9 last year when he was was the Pilot-in-Command of the PAL flight that carried Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and the official Philippine Delegation to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for the ASEAN 2022 Summit.

The inaugural flight to Perth marked the return of Capt. Ng to commercial flights.

“I didn’t know if I miss flying until I was inside the cockpit,” Capt. Ng said when asked during the media conference at Westin Hotel Perth. “I feel more relaxed. But f course you have to be always aware and think of the people you are flying.”

He admitted felt strange at first.

“The flight was smooth except for some turbulence. And on the approach to the airport it was windy. The crosswinds were strong,” he said.

For the Manila-Perth flight, Capt. Ng flew the Airbus Neo A321 to a flight time of 6 hours and 30 minutes or half an hour early.

“When we landed I thought I should fly more,” he said as the room burst into chuckles.