Ecuador's Government to
Control Food Prices
Ecuadorian Agriculture
Minister Walter Poveda
asserted on Tuesday that
the government will
control the prices of
rice, milk corn, banana,
and wheat flour, to
protect the citizenry.
Criticizing the
excessive rise in basic
produce prices, he
stressed "we understand
price and market
freedom, but not
licentiousness."
The minister complained
about the "dramatic
situation of farmers,
with prices continuously
decreasing; there is no
market intervention, and
the farmers go
bankrupt."
Thus he defended state
intervention, as a
regulating entity to
guarantee agricultural
production and prevent,
"prices from continuous
rising" in businesses.
He stressed that the
government seeks "to
protect consumers and
producers to save crops,
preserve them properly,
and have a sustainable
exportable offer."
Poveda also questioned
the proposal to
internationalize the
prices of produce, when
"salaries are not
internationalized."
The minister made the
statements after a rise
in the price of basic
produce was called
harmful speculation to
destabilize the
government by President
Rafael Correa. |
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