It is the biggest drop since the list of 63 products was created
The basket now costs 226.15 euros, its lowest value since February 8. DECO stresses that the decrease, although "timid", is "significant".
The price of the DECO-Protest food basket fell this week, after three consecutive weeks of rising. The drop, which represents a saving of 8.70 euros, is the biggest since the list that includes 63 products was created. The basket now costs 226.15 euros, its lowest value since February 8.
To Renascença, DECO spokeswoman Ana Guerreiro explains that the decrease, although "timid", is "significant".
"At a time when consumers are saving on supermarket purchases, these 8.70 euros can mean a saving in consumers' pockets or allow them to buy products that until now they could not buy," she says.
Although it's not possible to find a defined pattern for price decreases, vegetables (which are 19% cheaper) and fish like salmon and hake (which have fallen by an average of around 17%), were the products that contributed most to the reduction in the cost of the basket.
On the opposite side, among the products that rose the most in price between March 15 and 22 were horse mackerel, strawberry liquid yogurt, and tuna in olive oil.
The food basket is still 42.52 euros higher than the 183.63 euros it cost on February 23, 2022, before the start of the war in Ukraine, and 17.61% more expensive compared to the same period last year, when it cost 192.28 euros.
DECO warns that VAT decrease "may not be a good measure"
DECO also commented on the possibility of a VAT decrease next week, admitted by the Prime Minister, António Costa.
"If we look at the experience of our Spanish wines, it may not be a good measure, because it was not reflected in the price of food products," says Ana Guerreiro.
The Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection also reminds that there will be negotiations with retailers, so the best is to "wait for the closed measures and their approval" to assess whether or not this is a good solution that "can bring immediate savings.
The VAT reduction measure was pointed out this Wednesday in Parliament by Costa, who recalled that inflation on food was 20.5% in February, and that this price increase is higher than most goods - both in Portugal and in the European Union.
"The government will work with the sector to act on prices," he said, explaining that this would happen in two dimensions: the first through state aid to production, to reduce production costs in the food sector; the second through "a balance between reducing taxation, i.e. VAT, and ensuring that this reduction is translated.
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