Guatemala Seeks to
Reduce Cost of Living
Guatemalan President
Alvaro Colom reported
that his government was
negotiating on Friday
the prices of several
products to stop
excessive price increase
of basic products and
reduce the cost of
living.
Commissions composed of
officials, cooperative
members, and some
businesspeople are
trying to reach
consensus to stabilize
products as bread,
flour, poultry meat,
eggs, rice, and domestic
gas for cooking.
According to the
president, they are
working to announce on
Sunday a package with
concrete measures to
establish what he called
"prices of solidarity."
In some cases, prices
could return to the
values established
before January 15, but
in others the aspiration
is to avoid higher rises
during the rest of the
year, said Colom.
He also said they are
trying to convince
producers of reducing
their margins of profits
to alleviate the
pressure on the economy
of low-income families.
However, the private
sector, grouped in the
powerful Committee of
Agricultural, Trade,
Industrial and Financial
Associations, denied
that the government
talks are developing at
the level of guilds.
Javier Zepeda, executive
director of the
Guatemalan Chamber of
Industry rejected any
official initiative
designed to limit "the
companies' economic
freedom" in relation to
possible establishment
of ceiling prices to
favor the population.
The Central American
country is under the
effects of the oil price
crisis, the US economic
recession, and shortage
of basic grains, due to
mass buys by biofuel
manufacturers.
Besides, it is the
nation with greatest
rates of inequality in
the region, with little
over 50 percent of its
inhabitants suffering
poverty and 17 percent
in abject poverty. |
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