The Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Mohamed Saeed, has announced the introduction of an “Essential Commodity Price Index” to monitor the prices of commonly used food items in the Maldives. The Minister made this statement while speaking on PSM News’ ‘Raajje Miadu’ program. Minister Mohamed Saeed said that in the past two Ramadan months since this government came to power, the public was able to obtain food items at reasonable prices without difficulty. He attributed this to the important measures taken by the government to make food items more affordable and easily accessible.
The Minister stated that to control prices, the National Bureau of Statistics will soon introduce an index through which changes in the prices of the most important items will be monitored. He also mentioned that this index would be made public within the next two days.
“We have created baseline items. Including 162 items. This includes 111 items commonly used in household consumption, 39 types of fruits and vegetables, 10 items including fish or fish products, and two items of energy products,” said the Minister of Economic Development.
The Minister said that through the Essential Commodity Price Index, the prices of commonly used household items will be identified, and additional measures will be taken to control prices. He stated that 35 of these items have been identified as “critical items” for which there are no substitutes or alternatives. With this new index, the Minister said, it will be possible to determine the extent of price increases at the end of each month. He also mentioned that to monitor food prices, the prices at which items are sold in some stores will be checked daily. While the government is working on finding comprehensive solutions to control prices, the Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Mohamed Saeed, said that more such solutions will be seen in the future.
