Price Control for Sugar Rejected

No price control.

This was stated by Ma. Regina Martin, administrator of the Sugar Regulatory Authority (SRA), when asked if price control is needed for the commodity.

As the country’s gatekeeper for sugar, Martin insisted nothing could replace market forces as determinants of prices.

“Price control is counterproductive and must only be imposed only during times of calamities, emergencies and when there is rock-solid proof that there is price or supply manipulation,” she stressed.

Arguing sternly against price control, Martin said sugar trading from the farm to the traders “has been transparent”.

She added that building for sugar is done at the mill site.

Moreover, sugar stocks have started to build up, and this should stabilize prices for the first quarter.

Based on the production data for January 30, refined sugar stocks were 174,733 metric tons (MT), 19 percent higher than the previous year’s stock level as of the same date.

With the current world market price level at around 30 centavos per pound, the retail price of imported sugar at 38 percent tariff would be more or less, the same level as locally-produced sugar, which would make it hard for smugglers to make hay.

Unlike any other commodity, sugar is not heavily subsidized by the government and price increases at the millsite benefits sugarcane farmers, especially small ones, directly.

Martin told members of the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) in their February 11 meeting that the mill site price of sugar has started to stabilize and even softened compared to November, 2010 prices.

She revealed that mill site prices should be reflected in retail prices after three weeks.   With mill site prices ranging from ₱2,032 to ₱3,000 per 50-kilo bag as of January 30, 2011, retail prices in Metro Manila markets by the fourth week of February should be in the range of ₱58 to ₱64 per kilo of refined sugar.

Wholesale prices in Binondo and Divisoria as of February 15 ranged from ₱2,700 to ₱2,950 per bag, which would make retail prices hover between ₱59 and ₱64 per kilo.

REACTION 

For me, it is very unfair for the food exporters, sugar exporters, without any hedge to cancel the D-Sugar restoration and is now coupling with the strong peso exchange rate with the dollar. Philippine economic growth rate may decrease in such a gap as the sugar which is the main exports for the food exporters which has a greater percentage in contributing to our economic growth. If this happens, there will be a massive unemployment in some food companies as this problem may tend to be fatal in the next years without any solution to the abolishment of the D-Sugar. Government shall see the other side of the coin to help these food exporters lift themselves from the burden of abolishing D-Sugar and increasing rate of Peso against the Dollar.Our government is just taking its way to lift itself from the previous government situation. This may be the reason why there are lot of issues today that remain unsolved. The government can’t supply an aid for the companies that are near its closure because there are more important things to do than this. Without the abolishment of the D-Sugar, there will be a huge loss in the reserve sugar and that will add the burden in the crisis of Sugar in our economy. If food exporters worry about the profit they may lose, we may say that our government worries about the Filipino people. There may be a great decrease in the production and employment but if we work as one nation, crisis like this will never be existed.

2011 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DROPS COMPARED LAST 2010

Employment level as well as its quality improved in April this year compared to the same month last year, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

The NEDA made this statement after the National Statistics Office (NSO) released the results of the latest Labor Force Survey showing an increase in the country’s employment rate to 92.8 percent from 92.0 percent in April 2010, and a decrease in the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent from last year’s 8.0 percent.

Based on the NSO survey, total employment generation for the period reached 1.41 million, higher than the 416,000 net employment in April 2010.

He also noted that the quality of employment in April this year improved. “This can be seen in the 5.0 percent increase of workers with wages and salaries, 3.5 percent rise of full-time workers, and the decrease of unemployed youth from 18.8 percent last year to 16.6 percent in April 2011,” he said.

Apart from the agriculture sector, the number of newly employed persons in the services sector numbered 632,000, or a 3.4 percent growth from last year. On the other hand, employment growth in the industry sector slowed down to 2.4 percent, or around 130,000 net employment, from last year’s high growth of 7.8 percent.

Paderanga also said that the 2.9 million unemployed persons this year was lower by around 228,000 persons compared to the same period last year. However, the underemployed, or those already working but still expressed the need for more work, went up from 6.3 million (17.8%) in April 2010 to 7.1 million (19.4%) in April 2011.

SOURCE: http://www.pnoynews.com/2011/06/2011-unemployment-rate-drops-compared.html

Reflection

      My reflection to this issue is that it's not easy to drop down the unemployment rate here in the Philippines, in the sense that we are over populated country, we have this minimum wage increase and the lack of education of the people. But according to National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the 2011 unemployment rate drops compared to the last 2010. This means that when the unemployment rates drop significantly that means companies are hiring. As the pool of potential employees dwindles you have more competition for the available work force. More competition translates into higher wages since companies only have wages to offer to entice workers. Eventually you could even be close to full employment, meaning there is a labor shortage and potential employers start enticing labor that is employed at other companies to leave there jobs in order to get the higher wages being offered. Eventually this additional labor cost will be reflected in prices for the good or services that the employees produce. We can continually uplift the unemployment here if education is prioritized first by the government, because we are now in a highly competitive country. If we want a good pay, we should have the proper education we need to do our responsibility. But as a Filipino, I am happy for what I've read and I hope this will be the lead and will totally end up the increasing unemployment rate in our country.