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Waris Rohain marketing garden produce for a living in Moresby. |
EAT LOCAL SAYS ICCC CHIEF
Independent Consumer and Competition Commission chief
Paulus Ain, while looking at a global picture from data by the Food and
Agriculture Organisation, said food prices had risen in 2021 due to the
coronavirus pandemic, which caused supply chain disruption and rising shipping
costs in food exporting nations.
Mr Ain said the weak exchange rate also contributed to inflation.
He suggested that this inflationary pressured life could
be eased if taxes were adjusted with some savings traded off to the people,
increase minimum wage so Papua New Guineans made an additional kina to
meet the rising cost.
“One would be
saying, control the prices. Yes, prices are controlled for certain declared
good that we consider them to be necessities for all of us and are also
considered to be consumed daily,” Mr Ain said.
“However, controlling
the prices is not the solution to the ever-rising cost of goods and services,
it the performance of our local currency, the kina, against the major trading
currencies is causing the prices to rise.
“Therefore, an
overall macro-economic policies option should be consider to bring back the
strength of the Kina against major training currencies so it assist in reducing
the cost of importation, as a result, retail prices can be reduced.
“Controlling the
prices is not a best option although we are controlling the prices of certain
goods and services, the best option, in our view, would be to allow competition
in the goods and services supplied the markets and let the market forces of
demand and supply to dictate the prices and quality of the goods.”
He encouraged Papua
New Guineans to consume local foods.
He was responding to questions raised by this paper on the recent increase in prices for goods and services.
With MELISHA YAFOI of Post-Courier
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