Merchants and shoppers impacted by rising food prices

SAN SALVADOR – For 10 years, Ana has been preparing the most famous typical dish in El Salvador: pupusas. In all that time, she says she has not seen an increase in food prices as she sees it now. But that perception has an explanation.

The basic food basket in the urban area of ​​El Salvador was around 128.43 dollars in 2001. Now it exceeds 227.39 dollars. That means that Salvadorans now pay almost double the money for the same food products they bought 20 years ago.

“I did the numbers and if I didn’t increase 0.10 cents on the dollar for each pupusa, I’d better close the deal. The economic situation is unsustainable without one taking the necessary measures,” the merchant explained to the voice of america, to argue the reasons why the price of the product it sells rose.

The food base of much of Salvadoran cuisine is based on corn. In addition to that, grains such as beans and rice. Of these products there has not been a single one whose price has not risen. And the producers of the Salvadoran Chamber Association of Small and Medium Agricultural Producers (Campo) predicted in May of this year less harvest of corn and beans due to the high costs of planting.

Vegetables and fruits are also more expensive

“You make your budget. But, imagine being told $28 a box of tomatoes at La Tiendona market (where you get your supplies). How much is one going to give it as a saleswoman? There are days that I have had to give up to four tomatoes for one dollar,” explained Marta, who sells vegetables and fruits in San Salvador.

In January, the trader says that she could sell between 30 and 40 tomatoes for 1 dollar. Now, they can only give between five and six cooking tomatoes at that price.

The half sack of onion that at the beginning of the year cost up to 13 dollars, now has a price of 23 dollars to 25 dollars, he told the voice of america. “What the sack was worth before, that’s what the half sack is worth today. And what people consume the most is what has increased the most,” added Marta.

The rise in the price of products such as wheat flour, corn, tomatoes, chili peppers, onions and potatoes, whose trade is mainly strengthened by imports from Guatemala and Honduras, is another fact marked by the rise in the price of fuel. .

Despite the fact that in these countries, governments have subsidized the use of fuel, prices remain high.

For example, in El Salvador, Congress approved a transitory law to establish the maximum sale price of fuels, which is currently around 4.04 dollars per gallon of regular gasoline in the central zone.

While in Guatemala, the government subsidizes seven quetzals for each gallon of diesel and five quetzals for each gallon of regular and superior gasoline, which in dollars is equivalent to a subsidy of 0.90 cents and 0.64 per gallon.

But not only Ana and Martha see economic difficulties. Messrs. Rubén Rolín and Gloria de Rolín are not merchants or food distributors. But as buyers they lamented some of the measures that companies have taken to deal with the crisis.

“They increase the price and lower the quantity of the product,” he told the VOA, Glory. “If I buy fruit I don’t buy vegetables. I don’t buy chicken. I don’t buy meats,” she stated. For the Rolín family, there is no longer a difference between shopping in a supermarket and sales in open-air markets or nearby stores.

“If I used to earn 300 dollars and today I earn 360 dollars, I don’t see those 60 dollars because I spend them on the same thing,” he added.

Some government measures

In the middle of last year, the minimum wage in El Salvador increased by 20%. For the commerce, services and industry, mills and agribusiness sector, the monthly minimum wage is 365 dollars; for maquila, textile and clothing of 359 dollars and for coffee mills, of 272 dollars

Likewise, on March 10, President Nayib Bukele announced a package of 11 measures that would seek to alleviate the economic burden on the pockets of Salvadorans.

One of these measures was to free twenty basic consumer products from import tariffs, including: oil, rice, milk, sugar, potatoes, among others.

Some of the measures have been criticized by some economists who explained to the voice of america that for there to be a real impact on the pocketbook and not excessive public spending, the aid should have been targeted.

“Why are you going to give subsidies to people who don’t need them? The government should have directed its efforts to reduce the economic blow caused by price increases in low-income households. A measure focused on the most vulnerable population should have been the answer,” explained economist Stefany Hernández.

Likewise, the Salvadoran specialist in international relations Napoleón Campos detailed to VOA that there is no government measure directed “to austerity in public spending”.

However, the government assures that the measures will alleviate the weight of the crisis and will generate “favorable conditions so that Salvadoran families are not affected or the effects produced by global crises generated by inflation are reduced.”

Meanwhile, Salvadorans see changes in food prices and the volume of products delivered.

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