MANILA (Dow Jones)--The Philippines has increased its rice import quota for the year to 2.4 million metric tons to ensure ample supply throughout the year, a senior official of the agriculture department said Thursday.

  The volume is 14% higher from an earlier quota of 2.1 million tons set by the department.

  The Philippines has so far bought a record 2.3 million tons following a rice import deal with Vietnam Wednesday involving 600,000 tons.

  "We haven't exceeded our import quota. We're allowed to import up to 2.4 million tons," said the official.