Image via WikipediaLoaf bread and pan de sal will soon join the list of goods with escalating prices, as bakers are scheduled to raise prices by P1-P2 on March 7.
Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said on Wednesday that local bakers had already submitted a formal notice to the Department of Trade and Industry that they would be hiking prices of loaf bread by P2 and of a 10-piece pack of pan de sal by P1.
"They didn't hike prices in January and since then, the price of flour had gone up by around P80 per bag. Their request to increase is justified since flour prices are really going up,'' she told reporters on Wednesday.
Citing data from the Department of Agriculture, she said a 25-kilogram bag of flour has been selling for around P900 on the retail level. Ex-mill price stands at P860 a bag.
But Philippine Baking Industry Group president Walter Co said some flour millers were already selling their product at P930 a bag.
The P2-a-loaf price increase that bakers would be implementing on Monday, he said, was computed based on P860-a-bag of flour.
"So the increase really should be greater, but we don't want to impose such a large burden on consumers. We're increasing gradually,'' he said.
He said the price of the cheap Pinoy Tasty, which went up by P2 to P38 a loaf last month, would remain the same. Next week's price hike would affect branded loaves, which have been selling for P42 to P57 a loaf.
Apart from bread and flour, Maglaya said other goods with escalating prices included bath soap and cooking oil, due to higher prices of raw materials.
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