15% BREAD PRICE HIKE LOOMS

 MBABANE –There might be nothing merry this festive season for consumer as a bread hike of E1.30 looms.

Chairman of Eswatini Bakers Association Neal von Wissell said the organisation was seeking to have an increment of about 15 per cent. If this increase is approved, it shall be the sharpest increment in recent years as in 2016; a hike of E1 was effected,which was equivalent to 12 per cent. Before that, the increment was 6.5 per cent.

The application for the increase will be for both brown and white bread which will come into effect once approved by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade and gazetted by the attorney general’s office. Von Wissell said the association had forwarded an application to the ministry to have an increment of the basic commodity as the last price hike was on December 2016.

He said the association was hoping to implement the new price on December 1, 2018.
“This is going to be a process as the stakeholders have to contribute towards what we’ll be submitting,” he said. The chairman said the increment was a result of a number of production items that had increased the cost of producing bread. These, he highlighted as, increment of electricity, cost of wheat resulting in high prices of flour and a deficit of 13 per cent due to inflation.

Worth noting is that in the past two years, there have been two increments of electricity at 15 per cent per year. The new proposed prices vary between E13.90 for 800g of white bread and E6.95 of 400 grams. Brown bread is expected to retail at E10.70 for 800g and E6.15 for 400g grams. Currently, 800g of white bread retails at E10.70 while the same sized brown bread is sold for E10.

Meanwhile, news of the proposed hike will be discussed by the Eswatini Bakers Association with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade’s Chief Commercial Officer Magenius Hlophe.

The ministry, in a letter directed to the bakers association, which was also copied to the consumer association, chief inspector of weights and measures and the chief executive officer of the Eswatini Competition Commission; Hlophe invited the stakeholders to a meeting scheduled for Friday.

The meeting shall be at the ministry’s conference room of the ministry at 10am.
Bread is regulated in the country,with government having the last say through a gazette.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: