Price hikes of staple commodities in wholesale and retail markets

Dried vegetables, milk powder, infant milk, yoghurts among others are particularly affected by the soaring prices of widely consumed products in the trail of the adoption of the 2016 finance law which touched off late last month an acrimonious debate notably in the National People’s Assembly or lower house of Parliament.

The housewife, the family head, ordinary citizens will pay more for most products, including basic ones as they are imported and charged in foreign currency.

The products affected by this increase are basically dried vegetables and imported dairy products. This is the fact noticed by Echorouk’s reporters during a field inspection visit to the wholesalers of eastern Gué de Constantine municipality and elsewhere in the capital Algiers.

All traders were unanimous about the deleterious impact of the loss of value of the dinar currency on the prices of imported essential products.

This is the case of dry beans which have almost doubled in price as they are currently sold at 270 DA per kilogram

against 140 DA a few months ago. The lenses have also increased, albeit slightly, estimated on average at 100 dinars per kilogram.

Many interviewed wholesalers also mentioned the milk price hikes. “The Loya milk powder for a 500 gram package increased for instance from 250 DA to 290 DA,” said one of the wholesalers, adding that the Celia baby milk package rose from 350 DA to 370 DA.

Apart from subsidized products, the increase affected at different levels, all imported products. Some chocolate almost doubled in price, said a flabbergasted customer found on the spot.

For some products, such as locally roasted coffee, that is to say, the local brands, prices appear to be holding their initial levels, but this is only temporary, some wholesalers argue that the raw materials destined to these coffee manufacturers will necessarily cost more any time soon.

What is true for coffee is also for other products such as dairy products. In fact, these basic products have already seen their prices hike notably among wholesalers of Gué de Constantine, with a tub of Activia yoghourt rising from 20 DA to 25 DA.

As a result, operators with their quick adaptation to all market changes, were quick to pass the new prices onto their old stocks, said a wholesaler, stressing that ultimately it is the hapless consumer who is penalized. Unfortunately the latter has no choice. “He has to buy willy-nilly”.

The majority of the wholesalers interviewed by our reporters believe that prices of basic commodities are set to increase further in the coming months.

There is no indication, therefore, that inflation will drop in 2016, as recently stated by the authorities, knowing that the rate of annual inflation officially reached 5%, while it would be actually closer to 8%, approaching that of the steady devaluation of the Dinar currency, according to some economists.