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Tunisians are experiencing soaring food prices and shortages of basic staples in recent weeks. The high level of inflation is creating discontent in the North African country. Essential goods like sugar, vegetable oil, rice, and even bottled water are becoming scarce
Tunisians are experiencing soaring food prices and shortages of basic staples in recent weeks. The high level of inflation is creating discontent in the North African country. Essential goods like sugar, vegetable oil, rice, and even bottled water are becoming scarce. These are subsidized goods to make them affordable to the common man. But when they are sold in the market, prices are hiked up and become beyond the paying capacity of ordinary people.
Experts say that the government’s own budget crisis is responsible for the state of affairs. It is trying to negotiate a loan from the IMF but has not succeeded in it so far. The government’s take is that speculators, hoarders, and the ongoing war in Ukraine are the reasons for the spiralling prices, while the reasons are lying on its own doorstep.
Sporadic clashes with police over rising prices and shortages have occurred around the country, besides, skirmishes at serpentine queues that are formed when ration shops open. There are instances of traders committing suicide when police confiscate their weighing machines and goods, presumably due to fudging of weights or for selling goods at higher prices or sub-standard goods.
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The ministry of commerce announced last month the import of 20,000 tons of sugar from India to be available in time for Mouled, the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. Citizens formed long lines in front of supermarkets in the hope of getting sugar, a day before. That is the type of panic prevailing in the country. Tunisia also relies heavily on the import of energy which contributes to economic woes. Inflation has reached a record rate of 9.1%, the highest in three decades, according to the National Institute of Statistics. The Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) increased bank fees and interest rates, hindering access to consumer loans.
