Household Basket extended until year’s end
The relentless rise of food prices is expected to be the biggest headache for the Development Ministry’s new leadership. The challenge is even greater as this Friday the much-touted Household Basket measure expires, as does the provision on the ceiling on profit margins for a range of essential commodities. Retailers are against both measures, which even some government officials have described as ‘intrusive.’ The ministry will also revisit the issue of easing opening hour restrictions, in the direction of increasing the number of Sundays per year that stores can open across the country from the current eight.
The “Household Basket” measure, an institution that was strongly contested mainly by the market but which was ultimately the previous government’s main tool to combat inflation in grocery items, will be extended until December 31, 2023, the development ministry has announced.
The ministry has also extended a measure imposing a maximum profit margin on companies that trade in basic consumer products and fuels in order to deal with unfair profiteering at the expense of consumers. [AMNA]
