Other Basic Goods Seeing Price Increases

We turn once again to the inflation that has been affecting the cost of goods on the shelves. During an appearance on Open Your Eyes this morning, Agriculture Minister Jose Mai said that not only is the price of beef increasing, products like 1-2-3 cooking oil, rice, and fertilizers are also seeing increases. Here is what Minister Mai had to say about the need to produce more value added products locally, as a response to the increasing prices on basic commodities.

Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security

Jose Abelardo Mai

“We have to be very careful, because not only beef has gone up, and you would know that flour is going up. The bread bakers are fighting to, rightly so they have high cost, and they want increases their price. So we are studying that in Cabinet right now. 1-2-3 oil which is the most common oil used right now has gone up. 1-2-3 Oil pays no duty and no environmental taxes nothing. These are completely zero rated products but the prices have gone up in the market. Fertilizers, Urea has gone up by a hundred and twenty percent, ocean freight by three hundred percent, all the agro imports have gone up. These are things that are not in control of the, it is not in the government’s hands to control. Now, beef is no different, and rice will be no different. We have to find ways to mitigate the effects of the rising costs. This is not a national thing. It is an international phenomenon. But countries need to have their home made remedies to mitigate these effects.”