The National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) will be convened soon to dialogue with manufacturers, producers and retailers to ensure supply and price stability of basic commodities as the El Niño phenomenon is expected to affect supply and prices of agricultural products.

Trade and Industry Secretary Peter B. Favila, who is co-chairman of the NPCC, told a press conference that he is calling for a dialogue with all the stakeholders to determine what causes price increases although he said that so far only prices of chicken have moved up.

“If there is no reason for price increase then they should abide by the current suggested retail prices,” Favila said.

He, however, admitted that the El Niño would impact on the supply and prices of agriculture products particularly rice and corn but not immediately on processed products.

He said that together with the Department of Agriculture, the DTI will strengthen its price monitoring activities and the government is ready to make the necessary interventions.

“We don’t want to disclose what are these government interventions to avoid counter moves from other sectors,” he said.

Based on the estimates by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the El Niño’s impact would account for a .4 percent of the country’s GDP, which is expected to hit between 2.6 percent to 3.6 percent.

Inflation though is expected to remain benign at 3.5 to 5.5 percent this year.

“Because of the El Niño, we will have supply issues especially rice and corn as these sectors are being badly affected so we expect to see some spikes in prices of agricultural products,” he said.