pressure builds up on government take new measures alleviate price increase between food. initiative French supermarkets last week it is known to form shopping baskets against inflation and lastly, the CPI rise to 6% food-induced in February revived the debate in Spain. PSOE, the majority party in execution, coalition He insists they wait to see if the policies—the VAT reduction and the 200-euro check—are already approved before taking further action. Unidas Podemos and other parliamentary partners They demand that the PSOE intervene in the market and extend the PP’s VAT reduction to meat and fish.
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis PlanasTuesday has been set as the deadline to learn how the final inflation data are developing and act accordingly. We stopped a very strong uptrend in January and we still don’t know exactly what happened in February. “Based on reading the INE’s most in-depth analysis, the Government will take appropriate action,” he said.
Now with the data in the table, Podemos has doubled its demands. “What the government should do limit speculation and intervention Shopping cart“The Minister for Social Rights and the 2030 Agenda tweeted this Tuesday, Ione Belarra, after learning the results of Mercadona. “Some are very income from the economic crisis which makes it harder for more people to fill the fridge,” added Belarra.
But this Tuesday, the Executive spokesperson, isabella rodriguezjustified the reaction to the rise in food prices. “weather problems” causing “a certain reduction in supply” of “fruits, legumes and vegetables” and “similar” to “neighboring countries”. Rodríguez insisted on “observing” how existing measures evolve, in line with the PSOE spokesperson in Congress. patxi lopezInsisting that the executive find out which formulas are the best and added that the government “never remained silent”.
french basket
The French government announced last week that it had entered into a “voluntary agreement” with supermarkets in the country to offer a range of products at the lowest possible price over the course of a quarter (from March 15 to June 15). like strings Carrefour or Intermarché announced baskets of 200 and 500 products at discounted prices. one of the biggest, leclercHe disagreed, stating that the measure was more of a “communications operation” than a way to help consumers.
After the announcement, First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Nadia KalvinoAt the press conference he held after the Council of Ministers last Tuesday, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, while definitively accepting that the French multinational companies in Spain will repeat this measure in this country, Luis Planasurged Spanish supermarkets to make a similar offer. Large distribution AECOC’s employers confirm that this demand has not reached them before. And for now, apart from that erosMost of the chains exclude such an initiative, starting with Mercadona, which has the largest market share, announcing its 1,000-reference anti-inflation basket.
Offers on the table
Unlike in France, in Spain, the Government has chosen to approve a VAT reduction along with a VAT reduction from 10% to 5% on basic products and from 4% to 0% on pasta and olive oil at the end of December. 200 euro check for vulnerable families (with less than 27,000 Euros per year). A day after the approval of the two measures at the last Council of Ministers last year, the second vice-president and Minister of Labour, Yolanda Diazwarned that the tax cut will not help lower food prices. And the truth is They rose again in February, reaching over 16%.It represents an unprecedented level in the historical series that began in . 1994According to statistics from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
When February CPI data were released a few weeks ago, Department of Social Welfare sources led by Podemos general secretary Ione Belarra argued that “cart prices need to be capped or subsidized urgently”. VAT reduction failed”.
Since July of last year, purple They make different recommendations to the PSOE. First they upgraded special tax for large supermarkets To finance the 200 euro check that 1.8 million households have already requested, according to Planas. Then they’ll make a claim food price limit and, the last offer, has been a 14.4% commodity discount to place its price at levels before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. The socialists have assured that they have studied all the proposals, but they still do not give a concrete answer.
without realization
Trying to reach an agreement in September, Díaz major distributors It has already clearly positioned itself in favor of imposing a price ceiling in order to offer a cheaper basket of staples. Again, the Minister of Labor pointed out that Article 13 of the Retail Trade Act gives the Government the authority to “set the prices or marketing margins of certain products” as long as they are “mandatory”. Among the usual partners of the government, this is the most convincing idea, as they believe that the VAT reduction and a possible government bonus will only serve to increase the profits of the distributors.
The leader of Más País, in the margins achieved by the large supermarkets, Íñigo ErrejonHe asked the Government to make the data public in order to guarantee maximum transparency In rising food prices”. Beyond that, parties in Congress that support the Executive are demanding more initiatives, even if they do not explicitly offer an offer. Only PP has been insisting for months that the VAT reduction should be extended to meat and fish.