MINISTER of Supply and Internal Trade Mohamed Abu Shadi threatened this week to impose mandatory prices on fruits and vegetables after their prices recently soared inexplicably. Abu Shadi gave grocers nationwide a grace period of a week to reduce prices, else the government would set prices for vegetables and fruits starting next week and would assign them a profit margin of no more than 25 per cent. Nesma Nowar reports. Mahmoud Al-Askalani, head of the Consumers Against Price Hikes Association, said that prices of some vegetables by the country's retailers are sold at average prices of 150 per cent higher than their price in wholesale markets. Al-Askalani said that while a kilogramme of okra is sold at LE1.5 as crops in the fields and at LE6 at the wholesale market, it's sold for LE12 at retailers. “We have received countless complaints from people over price hikes,” he told Al-Ahram Weekly. According to the Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), the price of vegetables increased in August by 5.2 per cent compared to July. CAPMAS attributed the increase to a hike in the prices of tomatoes by 7.7 per cent, cucumber by 13.7 per cent, green beans by 36 per cent and potatoes by around 10.7 per cent. Prices of fruits such as mango, grapes, apples and bananas have soared as well. Al-Askalani supports Abu Shadi's move and demands fair prices not only for vegetables and fruits but for all food commodities. Al-Askalani said that he was against free market policies that allows vendors to determine prices, saying that free market policies “is applicable in Western societies which are highly competitive and established systems, but in Egypt, the government has to intervene to curb price increases and control the market”. Fruits and vegetables are not subsidised commodities and are not included among the subsidised foods that the government provides to Egyptians through the ration card system, which benefits some 68 million citizens. Egypt had mandatory prices since the 1940s which continued under nationalist president Gamal Abdel-Nasser's tenure. Al-Askalani said that this is the first time since 1978 that the government would resort to mandatory prices. Egypt's annual urban headline inflation fell to 9.7 per cent in the 12 months to August 2013, down from 10.3 per cent, figures from CAPMAS showed earlier this month. The overall inflation rate in August was 10.9 per cent.
