Algeria: Subsidized foodstuffs’ prices increased fivefold unlawfully

Various trade union representing several sectors of activity as well as the Algerian league for the defense of human rights have sent an urgent letter to the government to see to a review of the salary-scale of the Algerian workers on account of the steady deterioration in their purchasing power.

The request comes on the eve of the tripartite meeting planned for early September bringing together representatives of the government, the UGTA General workers’ union and the employers’ confederation.

The Algerian league for the defense of human rights urged the government to agree to a significant hike in the workers’ salaries on account of a marked slump in their purchasing power which has been seriously eroded by the ever-increasing staple commodities’ prices in the Algerian market.

In a statement to Echorouk, the human rights league brought out statistical data in support for its requested salary-hike saying that the prices of foodstuffs and other basic commodities in Algeria had increased fivefold between 2008 and 2013.

It added that the prices of these large consumption products had skyrocketed unlawfully despite the fact that they are subsidized by the state.

Concurrently, a trade union activist, Kasmi Tayeb also stressed the imperious necessity of a hefty salary-hike arguing that the spiraling prices of large-consumption and basic products including edible oil, sugar, rice, pasta, semolina, poultry and meat had increased between 30% and 45% over the past five years owing to frenzied speculation and other unlawful practices.

Furthermore, he also referred to the unenviable lot of Algerian pensioners, whose monthly pensions don’t allow them to face up to their household expenses, stressing that an increase in these pensions should also be the order of the day during the upcoming tripartite meeting.