Mauritius: There Will Be No Increase in Price of Bread, Says Commerce Minister

Bread

press release

There will be no increase in the price of bread following the recent rise in fuel prices. Such an increase would be unjustified as fuel and bread are not directly linked.

This statement was made by the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection, Mr Ashit Kumar Gungah, during a press conference yesterday in Port Louis. He underlined why the price of bread will not increase and elaborated on the new prices of mogas and gas oil since 04 August 2017.

Mr Gungah highlighted that the primary ingredient used in bread consumption is flour and recalled that in the last budget, the retail price of white flour has been reduced from Rs 5.85 to Rs 4.85 per half kilogram, that is, by 17%. As for wheat flour, the price has been reduced from Rs 5.85 to Rs 4 per half kilogram, equivalent to 32%.

As a result, underscored the Minister, professional analysts from his Ministry examined the situation, while taking into consideration the price of flour, salaries of bakery employees, gas and electricity prices and distribution costs, among others. It was then that Government decided to grant a 10 cent drop on the price of bread, he highlighted, and added that an increase in the price of bread cannot be attributed to an increase in the price of fuel and is unjustified.

With regards the price of fuel, the Minister highlighted that the Price Stabilisation Account fund of approximately Rs 2.1 billion, which helped to maintain prices of mogas and gas oil stable locally despite increase on the global market, was depleted in February 2017. As a result, the State Trading Corporation, which was incurring losses on fuel consignments during the past few months, had no alternative but to increase the retail price of mogas by Rs 2.20 per litre (5.15%) and that of gas oil by Rs 2.90 per litre (8.94%), the Minister added.