No price increase for basic commodities, DTI assures

National

CONSUMERS will not have to spend much to celebrate the holiday season as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) assured that there will be no price increases for basic goods until the year-end.

“First and foremost, for the prices for basic necessities, no price increase until the end of the year,” DTI Secretary Maria Cristina Aldeguer-Reque said during a press briefing in Malacañang.

These basic goods include processed milk, coffee, bread, canned fish, manufactured instant noodles, bottled water, laundry soap, and salt.

For Noche Buena products, more than 50 percent of them will have the same prices while for other commodities, the price just increased by less than five percent.

“So that at least, kahit papaano, our consumers will have, of course, a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. And not too much of an increase also,” Roque said.

Roque added that since last year, there has been no price increase.

“Some imported products’ have already increased so they (manufacturers) decided to request if they could increase,” she said.

She added that the purchase demand is still high, especially during Christmas, a season which Filipinos really love.

DTI has already released a price guide for Noche Buena products which is effective until December 31 this year, wherein 102 items from the 236 stock-keeping units have increased.

The price guide covers 12 categories, which include all-purpose cream, sandwich spread, pasta/spaghetti, ham, queso de bola, fruit cocktail, tomato sauce, salad macaroni, and spaghetti sauce.

The price guide will be the basis to help consumers make an informed decision when purchasing goods or food items for the holiday season.(LAO)