After a tour of different businesses in Greater Santo Domingo, sellers and buyers expressed their complaints because they have not “seen” the drop in prices. For tomorrow it is planned to start the plan for the elimination of tariffs on 67 products of the basic family basket.
In the case of chicken meat, the cheapest value is RD$74 per pound from a Brazilian brand, which has presented several problems due to alleged “alterations” in the product in its nation of origin.
Buying a whole packaged chicken cost from RD$281.58 to 337.00 Dominican pesos. The pieces such as long and short thighs have a value between RD$119.79 to RD$153.45 and the package of twelve chicken wings shows values from RD$223.20 to RD$204.
Ground beef starts at RD$139.00 per pound and whole pork for RD$196.25.
The oils in their different presentations of 1.68 liters have a range of RD$364.00 and RD$369.00 in stores, in the markets their cost is RD$345.00, in the same line the butters have a price of RD$139.00 per 425-gram jar.
The canned ones like red beans whose value in supermarkets is RD$73.95 and the loose pound in food sacks was marked at RD$75.00, the black beans with RD$65.00 pesos in cans and 50.00 per pound, the “yacomelo” with RD$65 per pound, noting that if the cans contain an extra ingredient such as coconut they are around RD$114.00 and for markets RD$75.00.
For rice in stores it has a value of 45.00 a pound and free at 27.00. Packed garlic in formal establishments has a value of 128.00 per pound for informal ones it has 140.00 per pound. Pastas such as spaghetti, coditos and their derivatives, depending on the brand, have different values, where the minimum is RD$39.00. For bread consumers, this is variable according to its type, the most sought after being “water” and “sobao”, the first marked with RD$7.00, while the second sells 2 units for RD$15.00.
Packaged liquid dairy products start at RD$55.00 and powdered milk of 145 grams is RD$45.00.
Although many people can be seen shopping in stores, markets and colmados, they say that they must do so because they do not want to “starve”.
“Nothing is cheap, but you wouldn’t let your family go hungry either, so you have to buy whatever you can,” said Minerva Alcántara as she shopped. For sellers in the market, the situation is not very different, since there are products that have increased in value. Others still do not understand how the elimination of the tariff rate will work.
Where are the Inespre combos?
In various establishments, the absence of the 1,000-peso “combo” offered by the State through the Price Stabilization Institute (Inespre) has been noted every Thursday.
The answer was that “they had not reached their gondolas.” The Inespre “combo” includes 10 pounds of select rice, 800 grams of pinto beans, 16 ounces of oil, 30 units of eggs, two pounds of salami, 400 grams of spaghetti, 16-ounce tomato sauce, 125 grams of sardines and approximately 3.5 pounds of frozen chicken all for RD$1,000.
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Regarding this measure, the National Federation of Retail Provision Merchants (Fenacodep) expressed its dissatisfaction.
“This should not be, since the products are expensive everywhere and this is not going to have the impact that the Government is looking for, I understand that the announcement made by the President today is more appropriate to avoid the shortage that awaits the world not it hits us so hard, producing more and more is the right thing to do”, explained Fausto Figuereo, president of Fenacodep.