Government expands price controls Ngäbe-Buglé offer goodwill lunch

 Representatives of the Ngäbe-Buglé region offered lunch “as a gesture of goodwill” to the ministers and deputy ministers sitting for the second day at the single dialogue table, in Penonomé on Friday, July 18.

They served rice with canned tuna which they said was the menu that their families eat in the east of Chiriqui, products that are currently included in the price control list.

Earlier representatives of the Executive presented a counter-proposal to the one offered by social organizations, calling for a 30% reduction in the cost of the basic food basket.

  The Government proposed to include another 17 in the list of products that have regulated prices. Carlos Rognoni, Deputy Minister of Agricultural Development, said that these 17 products will join the 18 that currently have price caps.

 In total, there would be 35 products that will have price regulation. The new products would be toothpaste, toilet paper, bath soap, sanitary towels, women’s and men’s deodorants, Clorox, fish preparations, vegetable oil, soybean oil, wheat flour, bread and bakery products, cream of corn, corn flakes, IMA brand coffee, and IMA brand sugar.

The other proposal presented by the groups, calling for the creation of a price regulation office got the thumbs down from the Vice Minister of Labor, Roger Tejada.

He said that the Authority for Consumer Protection and Defense of Competition (Acodeco) will ensure compliance with the regulation of the aforementioned products.