Philippines sets price ceiling for meat as food inflation soars; congressional panel approves corporate tax cuts

People wearing face masks as protection against the coronavirus disease queue outside a government office, in Caloocan City, Metro Manila on February 1, 2021. - Reuters

MANILA Feb 1 (Reuters): Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday (Feb 1) signed an executive order mandating price ceilings for pork and chicken in the capital region, as costlier meat has propelled food inflation to a double-digit level.

Pork retail prices in the Philippines, the world's seventh-biggest pork importer before local demand fell due to the coronavirus pandemic, jumped more than 50 per cent in January from a year earlier as African swine fever hit hog farm operations.