Sugar importation should not be banned but it should be resorted to if local production falls short and prices skyrocket, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.
“Demand for sugar is quite elastic, meaning it grows the economy. So the question is can production catch up?” Balisacan, also National Economic and Development Authority director general Arsenio Balisacan said during the 2022 Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines-San Miguel Corp. Economic Forum.
Balisacan cited an earlier statement of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. saying importations will not be as many as the 300,000 metric tons initially raised.
“The President (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) will ultimately have to decide. For us, is we provide courses of action. The important factor is the inventory, what’s there in the warehouses, how long will that last, that’s what we want to know,” the secretary added.