The trade union consumer basket in Republika Srpska amounts to 2,456 marks, according to data from the Union of Trade Unions for the past month. The average salary in this entity of 1,280 marks can only cover half of the costs of basic food items needed by an average family of four.
According to the data of the Statistical Office of the Republika Srpska, the average monthly consumption in households has increased by several hundreds of marks compared to previous years. The consumer basket for a family of four is twice the average salary. And while politicians claim that wages are growing faster than prices, citizens and trade unionists ask – do they know what the prices are in markets and how citizens live?
We give up almost everything. We buy the essentials. We also reduced the quantity. Instead of by the kilogram, we mostly take it by the piece. This is how citizens describe their standard of living. If it weren’t for their relatives abroad, they say, they would have a hard time surviving.
And the vendors at the market say that there is much less to buy than in previous years. Half-empty wallets don’t allow for full bags like they used to.
“More expensive goods this year. At this time last year, tomatoes were a mark to a mark and a half, and now they do not fall below 3.5 marks, the worst.”
According to statistical data, the average monthly consumption per household in the Republika Srpska last year was 1,800 BAM. Expenditures for food, housing, energy products amount to 53 percent of total consumption.
The average consumer basket for a family of four in May amounted to 2,456 BAM and 52 percent of it is covered by the average salary in the Republika Srpska. The most is spent on food – 1,100 marks.
“The fact is that most families don’t spend that money because they don’t have it, and therefore they can’t afford quality products, cultural or educational content and everything that is a normal consumer basket, because it’s not just bread and water,” says the economic analyst Igor Gavran.
Both trade unions and consumer associations reacted to the statement of the President of Republika Srpska that wages are growing at a faster pace than prices. They point out that, in addition to the authorities taking on debt, citizens also do so by force of circumstances at very high interest rates in order to pay taxes and fill the refrigerator.
“I have to correct the president, that with that increase last year, we only returned to the level of wages from 2008. I ask the question: How much was a liter of oil in 2008, and how much today, how much did a ton of pellets cost in 2008, and how much does it cost now, a liter of fuel…”, asks the President of the Republika Srpska Administration Union, Božo Marić.
And it is difficult to get out of the debt crisis. Especially when the average pension is 540 BAM and when half of the employees in Republika Srpska receive a salary of up to 950 BAM, especially in the real sector, which is not even enough to feed a family of four.
“Has any of them been to a store and seen how much the prices have risen and what kind of wage increase it is about. The biggest problem is that citizens, de facto, are taking considerable loans,” warns the president of the consumer association “Zvono” Jovan Vasilić.
