The Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry provided explanations about the rise in the prices of some of the baked goods. Viorel Gherciu said that even if the wheat harvest is the largest in the last few years, the price of bread is determined by the price of diesel fuel that is now following an upward trend globally. Representatives of the government said that if the main food products grow in price, the state will intervene to support the vulnerable categories of people, IPN reports.
Over the last few weeks, most of the stores in the country posted higher prices for some of the baked goods, by 0.5 lei on average higher. The Bălți bakery was the first to announce higher prices, being followed by bakeries in Soroca. The Minister of Agriculture anticipates that more rises will yet follow.
“The grain crop harvest this year is very good. It may seem paradoxical, but bread prices went up. This is due to the fact that the prices of most of the agricultural inputs grew. Furthermore, the prices of diesel fuel and fertilizers also rose. The prices of baked goods can yet rise, depending on the changes in the prices of other components,” Viorel Gherciu stated in the program “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.
In the program, Vladimir Bolea, head of the Parliament’s commission on agriculture and food industry, said the Government is already considering the possibility of providing compensations to persons with low incomes.
“We will provide support to vulnerable persons, such as pensioners and families with many children, if the prices of food products go up. We will offer dedicated support to farmers if the price of diesel fuel continues to rise. Wheat exporters now make profit as the prices on export are very good. This year they offset the failures of the last few years. The state should increase the taxes on their profit and should use the collected money to support the socially deprived categories,” said PAS MP Vladimir Bolea.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, wheat harvest in Moldova this year reached a record high of 1.5 million tonnes, the average per hectare being of 4.6 tonnes, which is the highest level in the last 30 years.
