According to a release in El Nacional, contrary to what the Listin Diario reported on Friday, the stable dollar price on the local exchange market is not being reflected as it should in the prices of basic food items. El Nacional says that despite the decline in the price of the dollar from RD$56 to US$1 in early March to RD$43 to US$1 at present, the price of milk and soft drinks actually rose this week. The newspaper cites Parmalat milk, which increased from RD$37 to RD$44, and Listamilk, a brand produced by Rica, as having gone from RD$34 to RD$45. Also mentioned is that Malta Morena saw a price hike from RD$15 to RD$20 per bottle, while a kilo of tomato paste went from RD$45 to RD$54.
Hoy newspaper also reports that the price of the 30-unit carton of eggs increased RD$25 over the past two weeks, to now sell for RD$133.
Regardless of the government announcement that the price of rice would drop, it continued to appear in supermarkets at RD$18-RD$22 per pound. A half-liter of soft drink that previously sold for RD$11 now sells for RD$13, while a liter rose from RD$17 to RD$20. Juan Lopez, the president of the Association of Retailers of Ensanche La Fe, told the newspaper?s reporters that canned products would soon increase because the tax department is now applying the 12% VAT (ITBIS) to these foot products that had been exempt in the past.