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    Unfazed by Budget Cut

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    Liz Zubiri
    Despite a P5.5 billion budget cut this year, the National Food Authority plans to buy more rice from farmers in 2011 than its target in 2010. The NFA aims to purchase 870,000 metric tons of unmilled rice from farmers this year, offering above the break-even price of P10.50 per ton to protect farmers from abusive private buyers. However, some question how the NFA can achieve this goal with only P2.5 billion in its budget and sustain its rice procurement program long-term given its inherited P177 billion in debt.

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    Unfazed by Budget Cut

    Uploaded by

    Liz Zubiri
    40 views1 page
    Despite a P5.5 billion budget cut this year, the National Food Authority plans to buy more rice from farmers in 2011 than its target in 2010. The NFA aims to purchase 870,000 metric tons of unmilled rice from farmers this year, offering above the break-even price of P10.50 per ton to protect farmers from abusive private buyers. However, some question how the NFA can achieve this goal with only P2.5 billion in its budget and sustain its rice procurement program long-term given its inherited P177 billion in debt.

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    Despite a P5.5 billion budget cut this year, the National Food Authority plans to buy more rice from farmers in 2011 than its target in 2010. The NFA aims to purchase 870,000 metric tons of unmilled rice from farmers this year, offering above the break-even price of P10.50 per ton to protect farmers from abusive private buyers. However, some question how the NFA can achieve this goal with only P2.5 billion in its budget and sustain its rice procurement program long-term given its inherited P177 billion in debt.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf or txt
    40 views1 page

    Unfazed by Budget Cut

    Uploaded by

    Liz Zubiri
    Despite a P5.5 billion budget cut this year, the National Food Authority plans to buy more rice from farmers in 2011 than its target in 2010. The NFA aims to purchase 870,000 metric tons of unmilled rice from farmers this year, offering above the break-even price of P10.50 per ton to protect farmers from abusive private buyers. However, some question how the NFA can achieve this goal with only P2.5 billion in its budget and sustain its rice procurement program long-term given its inherited P177 billion in debt.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 1

    Unfazed

    by budget cut, NFA to buy more rice from farmers


    Published February 13, 2011 6:07pm
    http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/212920/unfazed-by-budget-cut-nfa-
    to-buy-more-rice-from-farmers/story/

    Its P5.5-billion budget cut this year has not stopped the National Food Authority (NFA) from
    planning to buy from farmers more rice in 2011 than the target it set in the previous year.

    With NFAs budget down to P2.5 billion from P8 billion in 2010, NFA administrator Lito Banayo
    over the weekend said the agency targets to buy as much as 870,000 metric tons (MT) of palay
    or unmilled rice from farmers.

    The NFA buys unmilled rice from farmers at P17 which, Banayo told GMA News on Tuesday,
    is way above the break-even price of P10.50 to keep the abusive private sector at bay.

    For 2010, the NFA planned to buy less at 612,000 MT, according to a report in September that
    year.

    Data from the NFA website, which include incomplete numbers for 2010, show that this years
    procurement target exceeds the actual procurement in 2009 and 2008.

    The NFA bought 463,054 MT of unmilled rice in 2009, and 683,042 MT in 2008 when the
    Philippines suffered a rice crisis.

    To achieve this years procurement target, the agency might have the money now but the
    funds would have to be sourced through commercial loans," Banayo said at the sidelines of the
    recently concluded Agriculture and Fisheries 2025 Summit in Antipolo City.

    Citing the cut in the agencys budget, an opposition lawmaker on Tuesday questioned the NFAs
    capability to sustain its rice procurement program. What can P2.5 billion do to influence the
    price of palay?" Zambales Rep. Milagros Mitos" Magsaysay said in an interview with GMA
    News. The Aquino administration does not know what it is doing."

    Banayo said the NFAs procurement target this year makes up 5 percent of the envisioned paddy
    rice production in 2011, which the government expects to reach 17.4 million MT.

    Under its rice self-sufficiency plan, the agency targets to increase its palay procurement to 10
    percent of the 21-million MT paddy rice production in 2013.

    "But this will remain dependent on whether we will have the resources to buy more palay from
    farmers," Banayo said.

    Banayo on Tuesday said the NFA inherited P177 billion in debts from the Arroyo administration,
    up from P25 billion when the former president took over.

    The Palace is mulling a change in the setup of the debt-ridden agency due to the anomalies that
    the NFA faces. with Paterno Esmaquel II/VS, GMA News

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