Rice imports are favored to lower prices; price increases feared due to tax reform

Santo Domingo – Traders of the Cristo Rey and Duarte markets, in view of the increase every two weeks of the price of a sack of rice, were in favor of the importation of this cereal to reduce prices and fear further increases of the products they sell in view of the imminent fiscal reform to be carried out by the government.

The food vendors in these markets said that the authorities should meet with the country’s rice producers to agree on a plan that would allow the importation of rice, freeing competition, so that vendors and customers have more options in this market.

“The government must get its act together, import American rice so that the rice here will go down,” said Fabio Mota, owner of Casa Katering.

Mota insisted on the need for President Luis Abinader to reach an agreement with the national rice producers because the “basic family basket is expensive”. At the same time, he complained that every week a sack of rice rises 100 pesos, thus increasing the selling price which causes a decrease in the purchasing power of sellers and consumers.

“The essentials, oil and rice are expensive and that has not come a tax reform and if the tax reform arrives there is that the gas is going to run a lot “, complains consumer Carlos Mercedes in the Duarte Market.

Mercedes declared that he used to buy a 100-pound sack of rice for RD$ 3,000, while recently he bought it for RD$ 3,600, so it is going for 36 pesos per pound of cereal and the trend is upwards.

Other products continue to increase, such as potatoes and onions at 70 pesos per pound, while salaries remain “the same”, that is, there is no adjustment for inflation periodically, according to Mercedes, a regular visitor to the Duarte Market.

Price of chicken rose four pesos one day after elections

According to Benny Jimenez, a chicken vendor at the Cristo Rey Market one day after the elections in which President Abinader won, the price of chicken increased four pesos.

“The price is not stable, when he (President Abinader) won the elections the next day it went up four pesos and then to three,” said Jimenez.

Another merchant, identified as Santa of the Cristo Rey Market, said that products such as beef, pork, sausage, liver have experienced an increase of between 20, 30, 10 and 5 pesos.

While the prices of vegetables and fruits have registered a decrease in prices, said the merchant of the Duarte Market, René Rodríguez.

Rodriguez commented that products such as tomatoes and peppers have dropped “a lot” because before they were sold between 60-65 pesos per pound, now they are marketed between 30 and 35 pesos per pound.