MANILA, Philippines - The country has sufficient rice stocks up to the end of the year, the National Food Authority (NFA) said on Tuesday.

"We are very certain that there is no shortage up to December," NFA Administrator Angelito Banayo said in a Malacanang briefing.

He said that an updated inventory of NFA warehouses nationwide yielded buffer stocks of up to 57 days, while households have 25 days worth of stocks, and the industry or private sector has reserves of 28 to 30 days.

Banayo said NFA's warehouses, about 740 nationwide, are filled to the rafters.

This prompted the NFA chief to ask the agency's supplier from Vietnam, Vinafoods, to put off the delivery of the remaining rice imports this year to September 30 from August 15. He said the previous NFA administration had earlier asked the supplier to move the delivery date of the commodity
from April to August 15.

"If there is any proof that our warehouses are filled to the rafters, this is it. Hindi na kailangang pumunta sa bodegas, naliligo na po kami sa  bigas," said Banayo.

Another indication that rice stocks abound, is the lackluster sale of NFA rice.

"Historically, at around this time, NFA is selling an average of 200,000 bags of rice, but now sales are down to 126,000 bags. Is this not proof of oversupply in the market?"

He echoed Agriculture chief Proceso Alcala's statement that with the department's goal to increase rice production in the fourth quarter, imports  of the commodity will go down in 2011.

"My reading is, barring any disaster, rice imports will be cut significantly next year. We are waiting for production figures set for October  to December to have a better picture of the situation," Banayo said in Filipino.

The findings of the systems and management audit team created by the NFA to study the rice importation and local purchases, as well as rice distribution, will be helpful in fixing the ills of rice trading and distribution, and also in determining if the country needs to keep buying rice abroad.
 

"If we make a mistake in our estimates and we erred on the side of let us not import, it is the public that will suffer."

He cited the rice crisis in 1995 when domestic supply thinned to just 5 days, but the extreme also happened in 2008, when in anticipation of a supply  shortfall, the government announced that it wanted to buy rice at all costs to ensure supply and price stability. This resulted in rice prices in the world market shooting up to a record high $1,200 per ton.

"We have earned the distinction of being the world's largest rice importer. Which is why we want to fix the processes," said Banayo.