The prices of October 5 are taken as a basis for the formation of prices – Dissatisfied small and medium-sized businesses – What the Consumer Institute says.
The strong belief that the “household basket» will ensure stability and cheaper prices for the 50 products that are absolutely necessary for the living of the average household, the Minister of Development and Investments Adonis Georgiadis and Deputy Minister Nikos Papathanasis express in their statements to the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency.
In addition, they emphasize that the intensive checks in all essential items for profit regardless of the household basket, while in terms of the implementation of the measure, they emphasize that supermarkets and industry should have ensured the required quantities to meet demand.
“As a government, we are now devoting all our energies to this battle – parallel to and in addition to the more general initiatives we are developing to achieve the best possible prices for the Greek consumer – so that our most economically vulnerable fellow citizens can secure the 50 basic products for every household at tolerable prices, below inflation, so that we can all get through this hurdle together,” the Minister of Development and Investments, Adonis Georgiadis, points out to APE-MPE.
See the detailed LIST of products here
According to Mr. Georgiadis, “in the coming days, within October, each supermarket chain will formulate in collaboration with the industry and present the “household basket”, a basket with 50 products that are absolutely necessary for the livelihood of average household.
The “household basket” will be declared to the Ministry of Development and Investment, will be posted on the application e-katanalotis so that all consumers are aware of it and obviously the supermarkets themselves will also do their own promotions. The specific products will remain in the “basket” for some time 7 or 15 days – we are studying it – and throughout this time supermarkets and industry should have secured the required quantities to meet demand.
As a basis for the formation of the prices in the “basket” are taken the prices of October 5, the day on which we as the Ministry of Development and Investments had our meeting with the representatives of retail trade and supermarkets. Well, one cannot raise the prices of the products now to form the “basket”. The price of that day will apply.”
“I believe that the concept of the “basket” will do very well and I want to thank the supermarket chains and the food industry who support it fervently and are committed to doing everything humanly possible to make it a success,” emphasizes Mr. Georgiadis.
Deputy Minister of Development and Investment Nikos Papathanasis in his statement to APE-MPE he points out that “the government, since the beginning of the pandemic, has already proven that its first concern is to support the economy and society with a series of measures that move within the limits of the budget and without setting jeopardizing both the country’s fiscal balance and the promising growth prospects. We always stand by the citizen with seriousness and responsibility, without populism and inexpensive “fireworks”.
According to Mr. Papathanasis, “the “household basket” contains basic goods that have been affected by the energy crisis, by unprecedented inflationary pressures caused by gas and liquid fuel price increases. The main inflationary factor is the cost of energy, which increased in September in the Eurozone by almost 41% compared to the corresponding month last year, with the result that food prices in the 19 countries that use the common currency approached – according to Eurostat – the 13%. In our country – according to ELSTAT data, inflation in September was 12%”.
” The specific measure is expected to ensure stability and cheaper prices in the specific product categories, which have already been announced. We continue the intensive checks on all essential items for profit regardless of the household’s basket” the Deputy Minister of Development and Investments reports to APE-MPE.
Problematization in the market, businesses and agencies
With caution, but also in a consensual mood, businesses and productive bodies welcomed the initiative of the Ministry of Development and Investments to “tame” inflation by forming a “household basket” consisting of 31 categories of 50 different consumer products, in which small price increases will be made.
Supermarket chains with annual sales of more than 70 million euros, amid concerns over the compatibility of the new measure with competition law, have pledged to present their own proposals to make up the product basket by the end of October.
On their part, the Food industries assured the responsible minister that they “support the initiative to create the basket. They stand once again on the side of consumers and make every effort to offer them uninterrupted access to affordable and high-quality food products.” However, they did not fail to point out, through their institutional body SEBT, that the developments in the domestic and global market over the last year (issue of adequacy, cost of raw materials & energy), which have resulted from the successive adverse circumstances, have a catalytic impact on activity, in the financial results and in the sustainability of the food and beverage sector and cause serious concern.
Small and medium-sized entrepreneurs appear dissatisfied from the initiative of the ministry stating that it does not respond to the indignation that has caused the wave of accuracy. In particular, the General Confederation of Professional Craftsmen Merchants of Greece argued, among other things, that “in order to deal with accuracy, the prices imposed by the energy oligopoly must be tamed”. For his part, the president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, Yannis Hatzitheodosiou, emphasized that the list for the basket is insufficient, as a household needs more products and estimated that food chains will mainly promote private label products, increasing with this way their profit.
The Consumer Institute (INKA) called the initiative of the ministry “a communication trick, without substance, since the prices of the products are already very high”. According to INKA, “instead of the ministry taking a stand for the substantial reduction of prices through the special fuel consumption tax, it invents ways for alleged price containment agreements”.
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