Price decreases in some products

Santo Domingo, DR

On July 6, the Dominican Government met with business people, industrialists, traders, and actors of some sectors, where measures were established that would counteracting the price increases in the Dominican Republic.

President Luis Abinader had assured that the factors affecting the increase in the cost of products were external. For that reason, the authorities were forced to hold an emergency meeting even though the governor of the Central Bank, Héctor Valdez Albizu, considered that this situation was transitory.

One of the provisions of the Dominican Government was the freezing of the prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), as well as diesel oil and regular gasoline for the next 30 days, regardless of the variation of the cost of a barrel of oil at international level. For this reason, in the days that have passed, these fuels remain frozen.

In the complementary budget approved by the Chamber of Deputies, RD$6,9 billion will be allocated for the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Mipymes (MICM).

Another government measure suggested by the working groups made up of various sectors was that the General Directorate of Customs should have RD$2,000 million available to provide facilities to importers.

In this regard, the institution created a committee to evaluate the methodology for defining how the funds will be distributed and who qualifies for this credit.

Abinader also announced that to monitor the prices of products, monitoring will be published on the websites of several institutions, and an app will be developed to compare and monitor those costs.

Therefore, now the Ministry of Agriculture presents this updated information on the prices of the top products of the basic food basket. Some have gone up, and others have gone down.

Current prices

These are the costs of some foods in Santo Domingo markets, according to Agriculture surveys:

Creole garlic costs RD$110 a pound, down 8.33%, while imported garlic costs RD$126 with an increase of 2.86%.

Red onion has increased 7.14% per pound and sells for RD$30.

The tayota unit is RD$22, representing a 10% increase.

Salad tomatoes dropped in price by 11.75% and cost RD$25 per pound.

Bugalú tomatoes are now RD$26 per pound, up 4%.

Carrots are RD$23 per pound, up 8.24%.

Cauliflower increased 4.55%, with a price of RD$46 per pound.

A pound of sweet potato costs RD$19.80, maintaining its price. Other groceries that cost the same as of July 28 were the pound of yucca (RD$14.80), the unit of barahonero plantains (RD$16.40), and a unit of green guineos (RD$4.40).

Other groceries such as yams dropped in price. This costs RD$47 with a reduction of 2.08%, white yautia is down 4.88% and is worth RD$39, and yellow yautia reduced its price by 2.63%, costing RD$46.25.

The price of live chicken rose by 2.88%, with a price of RD$53.50. On the other hand, processed chicken decreased 1.43%, with a value of RD$69, beef remains the same at RD$151.33, and pork leg fell 2.60% with a price of RD$101.

Five other foods present the same price: eggs, Persian lemon, a pound of select rice, a pound of red beans, and eggplant.

And there are more price decreases. A unit of large melon costs RD$59 (-21.33%), papaya RD$70 (-9.68%), green pigeon peas in grains RD$103 (0.96%), and cubanela chili RD$28 (-6.67%).

Some others presented increases, such as pineapple of 3.70%, watermelon of 6.33%, Creole avocado of 15.62%, broccoli of 8.24%, and black beans of 1.05%.

Construction materials

The increase in construction materials continues to be a problem for the entire sector; however, one of the most affected have been the micro, small and medium-sized builders. They consider that the situation has been uncertain because they work with trusts.

This is the opinion of Eliseo Cristopher, president of the Dominican Confederation of Small and Medium Construction Companies (Copymecon), who adds that first, they sell and then they build, so if one day they sell an apartment at one price and the next day the materials go up, they are affected.

According to Cristopher, construction materials have maintained their prices, but the upward trend does not continue.

“One of the products that shows an increase is the chili bell pepper of 9.09%. It is sold at RD$60 a pound, according to monitoring…”
In the particular case of steel, a slight decrease in its cost has been seen as a result of the participation of the public-private partnership, so now builders are hopeful because there is more stability, according to Cristopher.

It is recalled that the Dominican government agreed with the industrial sector that the cement sector would offer 1.2 million cement casings at a 15% discount until December 31, 2021.

PVC pipes will also be marketed with an overall reduction of 15% to be made gradually in the coming days.

The price of wood should also start to decrease according to the decrease in the international market. Also, steel and rebar will reduce their costs by about 8%.