Its Gold Thai Hom Mali Rice - an AAA grade variety - now costs $10.20 for a 5kg bag and $19.90 for a 10kg one, an increase of 90 cents and $1.60, respectively.

The hike is FairPrice's second in as many weeks: It raised prices of three other in-house brands of rice by between 60 cents and $1.65 last week.

Other supermarket chains contacted by The Straits Times, including Cold Storage, Giant and Sheng Siong, said they have no immediate plans to increase their prices again, since they had already raised their prices since February.

When asked if further increases were on the horizon, FairPrice said it could not be sure, as prices would fluctuate according to market factors of supply and demand.

The increases in Singapore are a result of skyrocketing prices for the grain worldwide: Prices on the global market have jumped 50 per cent over the past two months.

Yesterday, NTUC's director of integrated purchasing, Mr Tng Ah Yiam, said FairPrice was trying to soften the impact on consumers by staggering its increases.

He added that the chain would moderate its price hikes, and keep its objective of ensuring that 'we can maintain a price gap of 10 to 15 per cent compared to any other brand'.

JESSICA LIM

MANILA IN DRIVE TO BOOST FARM OUTPUT

SPECIAL REPORT, SATURDAY