Rising petroleum prices are competing with the stability of the foreign exchange rate and have cause increased prices in imported products such as milk, cheese, corn flakes, as well as locally produced commodities that use imported raw materials, as reported in Diario Libre. Fuels are among the products with highest impact – they have increased an average 21% this year according to Ministry of Industry and Commerce statistics. The increase in fuels directly affects sectors such as cargo transportation and some agricultural products. However, the National Union of Economic Supermarkets (UNASE) has indicated that main basic products have decreased in price an average 9.5% during the first half of this year.