Manila, Sept. 2 -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday ruled out price spikes on retail rice, given an ample local supply and a temporary import ban which took effect on Sept. 1.

In a phone interview, DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the country has a strong rice inventory despite the 60-day rice import halt, which runs until Oct. 30.

"We are not expecting sudden spikes na malalaki dahil marami tayong imbentaryo ng bigas (because we have high rice inventory)," he told the Philippine News Agency.

As of Aug. 28, the country logged 2.8 million metric tons (MT) of rice import arrivals since January, according to the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).

About 264,000 MT of imported rice arrived from 210 sanitary ...