Transport, Covid fuel skyrocketing staple prices

Santo Domingo.- The increase in the prices of raw materials and other products, as a consequence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and in turn its effect on maritime transport, caused an increase in the cost of household goods will accelerate during the last year when compared to previous periods.

Several of the quintiles of the family basket, between September of last year and the same month of 2021, increases their price by more than 62% compared to those registered on the same date of 2019 and 2020, according to data from the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD).

Quintiles one (the lowest) and five (the most expensive) were those that had a faster increase in their cost between September of last year and the same month of 2021, both with 66%, when compared to the amount that went up two years earlier.

“The price crisis” caused that, in the case of the cheapest quintile of the family basket, it became more expensive by RD$1,763.71 during the last year, from RD$21,309.09 to RD$23,072.80 (US$490).