Capping food prices is misleading people and just another populist move. This was stated by the opposition SaS party in connection with the agreement on price ceilings for selected foods, which the agricultural department and retail chains concluded on March 17.
At the beginning of the week, an agreement between the Department of Agriculture and retail chains on price ceilings for selected foods came into effect. However, according to the SaS party, this is nothing more than another populist measure of this government. This can be clearly seen when looking at the selection of foods whose prices will not rise for three months.
“For consumers, this may at first look like the right measure in a time of increasing inflation. However, it is not true that people will buy cheap food. The chains have capped the prices of those foods for three months, which are likely to gradually decrease. On the other hand, for example, the price of pork, which will probably rise in the coming months, is not capped. In addition, there are also completely illogical and ridiculous items on the list, such as beer, wine or frozen pizza,” said Jarmila Halgašová, who works in agriculture at SaS. According to her, capping food prices is not good news for people at all.
“In introducing this measure, moreover, the acting minister of agriculture and the acting prime minister completely bypassed the food producers, some of whom even claim to have previously noticed pressure from traders to reduce the sales prices of some types of food,” she said.
According to her, food producers really need to be helped, specifically with high energy prices, in the form of subsidies for technological equipment. “Therefore, we appeal to the Department of Agriculture to finally start acting,” added Halgašová.
Don’t overlook
The agricultural department has published a list of foods whose prices will not change for the next three months