Estimates of the Citizens’ Association “Consumer Club” TK, based on analysis, show that the average family of four can save up to 100 BAM per month if they buy products from the locked price program.
“This is not a small matter, especially for pensioners,” said the president of that association, Gordana Bulić, in a statement for Fena.
According to her, the domestic market remains extremely vulnerable due to BiH’s high dependence on the import of key goods such as energy and grain, so any disruption in the world market or delivery delays is very quickly reflected in retail prices, which citizens feel almost immediately.
“All global conflicts, from the Middle East to Ukraine, lead to the growth of insecurity, and small countries like ours feel the consequences the fastest. The rise in prices is inexorable, justified and unjustified, but in the end the consumer pays for it,” Bulić pointed out.
The share of food costs in the budget of the average BiH families has been high for years, but now exceeds the previously alarming percentages. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, as Bulić adds, as in other countries of the former Yugoslavia, 40 to 70 percent of income was allocated for food, and today it is possible to spend even more.
Bulić added that many families in BiH can only buy food with their income or they lack money for that. Large families, students and pensioners are particularly vulnerable. Purchases such as clothing, appliances or haberdashery, as she emphasized, are waiting for better times despite the fact that the prices of these goods are almost not increasing, although their production and delivery to the retail outlet require “energy”.
“This certainly tells us that there is manipulation of food prices, because food is something that must be bought and cannot be postponed, and we are convinced that food producers and traders certainly have good earnings, or profits,” Bulić emphasized.
She assessed as appropriate the actions with “locked prices” in which traders voluntarily give up part of their profits in order to remain competitive. According to her, such measures, although imperfect, can bring visible relief to consumers.
According to the Association’s data, the price growth of basic foodstuffs in the last five years reaches 40 to 100 percent. Bulić noted that the practice of selling fuel and other goods from old stocks at the prices of future purchases, which are often higher, is particularly problematic.
“If oil was bought at one price, it should not be sold at a completely different price just because an increase in price is expected. But it happens. The same applies to cereals, flour and other strategic goods,” added Bulić.
Although price increases cause dissatisfaction, Bulić says that the most common consumer complaints are not related to prices.
“Most citizens understand the global context, but they often haven’t heard enough about programs that can ease their financial burden, such as the concept of locked prices,” added Bulić.
