Consumer Protection Agency head Atef Yacoub has called on consumers to take action today to boycott shopping as a way of putting pressure on retailers accused of taking advantage of the country's spiralling prices. The first day of the month was ideal, he said, as it was the peak spending day of the month after the previous month's salary had been received by employees.
The past three months have been tough for many people, as a series of new economic measures have been introduced by the government, resulting in jumps in daily expenses.
Prices of locally-produced products were influenced by the 13 per cent value-added tax (VAT) imposed in early September on a long list of goods and services. This led to a surge in core inflation that reached 15.75 per cent in October, compared to 13.94 in September.
The monthly inflation rate was 2.8 per cent in October, in comparison to 1.2 per cent in September.
Imported goods were affected by a severe shortage of the dollar in September and October, prior to the pound's floatation, which led to price hikes on some products and the disappearance of others.
The dollar scarcity has created an unprecedented demand for foreign currency from the parallel market, elevating the exchange rate. This has prompted the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCC) to call on traders to halt imports of non-essential products for three months.
The currency floatation and the reduction of energy subsidies in early November came as the final straw for many traders, leaving them with little choice but to raise prices.
Under-secretary of the FEDCC Alaa Ezz voiced strong opposition to the CPA campaign. “It will do nothing to help, and in fact the results will be the opposite from what is hoped for, as the upper and middle classes usually go to shopping malls on Thursday, which is campaign day,” he said.
The lower classes would not stop their purchases on that day because they bought their needs from day-to-day, he said.
Ezz told Al-Ahram Weekly that high prices were caused by an increase in the dollar exchange rate. “They have nothing to do with manufacturers or traders,” he said.
Meanwhile, The FEDCC has launched a “realistic” campaign that calls on importers to postpone their imports for three months until the dollar exchange rate goes down to near LE11 to the dollar, he said.
“I wonder if whoever called for this campaign will catch the flu on 1 December. Will he refuse to go to a pharmacy,” Ezz asked.
Heba Radi, a Cairo housewife, said that she would participate in the campaign to stop the “non-stop” price rises. “But unfortunately this is bad timing because the beginning of the month is when people purchase their needs,” she said.
Twenty nine-year-old engineer Sherif Salaheddin had a different point of view. “The campaign is not realistic because people will still buy their needs a day before and after it, so the traders will not lose much money,” he said.
Ahmed Attia, a supermarket owner in Downtown Cairo, said “we can take the day off.”
Amal Ashraf, the mother of three children, said that “while we know one day will not do anything, the traders need to be taught a lesson.”
Meanwhile, the demand for discounted products is growing, with a huge sale taking place in commercial malls and retail shops last week called “Black Friday”, in imitation of what happens in the US.
Deal-hunting Egyptian shoppers were seen filling the markets, prompting some people to question the seriousness of the economic crisis in Egypt. The writer is a freelance journalist.
