date:Jul 08, 2014
n Asia after China, plans to import 1.4 million tons this year, including volumes agreed last year, Pangilinan said. More imports are needed and the quantity will depend on the impact of drier weather from El Nino, the expected yield of the next harvest, and the governments buffer stock, he said.
Food prices surged 7.4 percent in June from a year earlier, while the inflation rate was 4.4 percent. Food and non-alcoholic beverages have a weightage of about 40 percent in the consumer- price index