In the turbulent BiH political scene, it seems that no one is addressing the problem of rising prices for food, energy, fuel, and real estate. What remains the same are salaries and pensions. While the union consumer basket for May amounts to 3,178 BAM, most citizens receive a minimum wage of 1,000 BAM, with which they have to cover all these expenses. Are we in a situation where seasonal fruit and vegetables have become a luxury for us?
A large number of citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot afford even basic necessities. Salaries are low, pensions are even lower. Meat, seasonal vegetables, and fruit have long since become a luxury.
Despite, conditionally speaking, the normalization of supply chains and the decline in prices at the global level, this is not the case here.
“World food prices have been falling in the past months, practically all costs were lower since the beginning of the year, and still prices continued to rise in Bosnia and Herzegovina: The only thing that can be concluded from this is that, if there is no reason, prices can rise only because of someone’s greed, i.e. to make extra profit,” says economist Igor Gavran.
“There is also the greed of traders, i.e. owners of shops or trade chains, who use every opportunity to raise prices, both when there is a need and when there is no need, so that, unfortunately, prices are rarely reduced in our country. They continuously rise, and then they tell us that we should be happy when they only increase their prices for a short period”, believes Lejla Čaušević Suđeska from the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of BiH.
While food prices in countries with a much higher standard of living are falling, in our country food is getting more expensive.
“I’ve recently been to Austria and Germany and I’ve looked at the prices a little. The prices, even for some food products, are lower than they are here,” says Jovan Vasilić from the Consumers’ Association “Zvono” in Bijeljina.
Boycotts of shops due to high prices have been forgotten, and citizens’ rebellion against unjustified price increases is absent every time.
“We’ve gotten used to it being that way, that the system doesn’t work, that nothing can be changed. This shows how much people really don’t believe in the functionality of the state apparatus, or the work of the institutions of the system. Quite simply, they’ve lost trust that these people can change anything and that they want to change anything,” says sociologist Vladimir Vasić.
Price fixing and other actions taken by the competent institutions to control prices have not brought major savings to citizens, BHRT writes.
