As a wound to the citizens who have been suffering the consequences of the worst political crisis for several months since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, there has been an almost daily increase in the prices of basic foodstuffs, while wages remain the same.
Alarming situation
To compare, a kilogram of sugar in November last year was 1.2 BAM, while now it is 1.45 BAM. The cost of a kilogram of coffee was 13.1 BAM, and the price now jumped to 14.2 BAM. Bread went up from 2.3 to 4 BAM per kilogram, while the price of a kilogram of flour increased by 25 pfennigs. A liter of oil now costs as much as 3.40 BAM, and last year it was 2.30 BAM.
Prices in stores are constantly rising, and caterers have also decided to increase the price of their products, so the citizens have been unpleasantly surprised by the higher prices of pies in pie shops in recent days. Prices have increased by an average of2 BAM per kilogram, which the owners justified by the increase in foodstuffs prices.
Admir Arnautovic, president of the Association “Consumer Association of Central Bosnia” from Travnik, mentioned that prices are no longer growing at a “creeping” rate but in an enormous way.
”Every day we have a situation where products increase in price by 10, 20, and some by 50 percent. We recently had such a case with sugar, and now with bread, cevapi, pies, or catering services. The situation is more than alarming, ” Arnautovic emphasized.
An unfavorable year
He reminded that energy prices are growing every year in the winter and that it is possible that as a result, food prices will continue to rise.
”We expect that the situation could improve only in the middle of next year. We had an extremely unfavorable year, where food prices are also high on the world market. This was reflected in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) as well, and I do not believe in price stagnation in the next six months either, ” said Arnautovic.
To survive a difficult period
Also, Arnautovic pointed out that the state has mechanisms that could be applied relatively quickly and enable citizens to survive this difficult period, but, as he said, the question is whether they will be initiated.
E.Dz.
Source: Avaz
