Many essential items have increased up to 30% in price due to the depreciation of the peso to the US dollar and increases in the price of fuel. For instance, plantains are now costing between RD$10 and RD$13, for the wholesaler, arriving to retail markets at RD$15. Other staples such as onions, potatoes and peas are seeing similar increases in price.
Juan Hernández, president of market traders in San Cristóbal, said that taro is sold to distributors at RD$43 and to the consumer at RD$50. Carrots and yucca were at RD$20 that is a three or four peso increase. Onions are now at around RD$50 a pound, potatoes at RD$28 and RD$30 a kilo, which is an increase of RD$5 and are expected to go up even higher.
Ricardo Rosario, executive vice president of the National Federation of Shopkeepers and Businesses in the Dominican Republic (Fenacerd), said that the government had to take steps to control the price increases and said rice and beans were also increasing in price.
According to the Central Bank, between 2013 and 2018 the family basket had increased by 11.7%, from RD$27,214.88, to RD$30,411.13 in June this year. At the end of 2017 it was at RD$29,982.94.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
23 October 2018
