Petitions for price increases are piling up with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), but the government will not grant them unless a new Suggested Retail Price (SRP) Bulletin is released.
Trade Assistant Secretary for Consumer Protection Group (CPG) Amanda Marie Nograles said Wednesday the number of products or stock keeping units (SKUs) seeking price increases through their manufacturers have increased to 63 from 43 SKUs last August.
“We are in talks with most of them (manufacturers), and many of them have committed to defer price increases until Dec. 31,” she said.
The government last revised and published an SRP Bulletin in February.
There were no movements on prices since then, despite urgent calls for help from the manufacturing sector, the DTI official said.
Over 20 companies have pending petitions for price increased for foods categories like milk, sardines, bread, canned meat, coffee, instant noodles and bath soaps.
Petitions for price increase ranges from P0.10 to P7.27 or about 1 to 5 percent increase on the current price of a food SKU, while some are petitions to increase the price of non-food items by 6 to 20 percent or about P1.50 to P9.75 per SKU.
The CPG continues to assess the validity and urgency of the petitions it receives, but no concrete action has been initiated yet, manufacturers said.
The canned sardines manufacturing sector, for instance, decided let its petitions stay idle since the closed season for sardines fishing began last Nov. 15.
Until the 3-months closed season is over, sardines manufacturers have pledged not to push for the P3 increase it sought in early 2023.
CPG reminded retailers and consumers that the February 2023 SRP Bulletin will remain in place unless the DTI issues another bulletin.
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