NW 11:33:31 24-08-2021
LG1132NW.105
105 ECONOMY - PRICES - ANALYSIS

Consumer Protection Association:
Electricity, Fuel Hikes Push
Food Prices Up


Sofia, August 24 (BTA) - The appreciation of electricity and fuels has pushed food prices up and has boosted inflation, Consumer Protection Association (CPA) Chairman Peyo Mayorski said, quoted by the NGO in a press release on Tuesday.

A CPA survey found that food prices have gone up by an average of 5 per cent since May 2021, most appreciably for cooking oil, dairy and meat products, sugar and flour. "Producers use fuels and electricity as inputs, and their high prices have an immediate impact on the finished food products," Mayorski pointed out. He noted that even vegetables and fruit are more expensive this summer due to the higher cost of transport services.

The CPA Chairman expects a possible further price rise for staple foods in the autumn and winter because of the hikes of electricity and fuel. Petrol and diesel prices are at their highest level since the start of the pandemic, and their effect will probably continue to spread down the chain, Mayorski predicts.

In his words, the increase of food prices will vary by the extent to which the production process depends on power supply and the ability of business to cover rising costs flexibly.

The appreciation will erode households' purchasing power in the autumn and winter, as they will have to spend more of their income on foods and heat, the press release says.

The new prices of electricity, fuels, natural gas and heat will make themselves felt to households in a couple of months' time, at the start of the heating season, and users of centrally supplied heating and hot water will be hit worst, Mayorsky said. RY/LG
//