Dakar, June 14 (APS) – The daily newspapers received by APS on Friday mainly deal with the government’s announcement relating to a reduction in the prices of several consumer goods, a measure expected by the populations to reduce the cost of living .
“The State is taking action”, displays Sud Quotidien, speaking of the reduction made in the prices of certain basic necessities, in accordance with a promise made by the new authorities before their coming to power.
“A tax suspension of an annual amount of 53.4 billion CFA francs was implemented to support the reduction. Rice, oil, bread and cement are currently affected. The reduction measure comes into force next week, after the meeting of the National Consumer Council,” reports Sud Quotidien.
The daily newspaper Les Echos believes that the mountain has simply given birth to a “little mouse”. “Only 15 francs on bread, 50 francs on sugar and 40 francs on rice”, details the newspaper to observe the extent of this reduction, which the daily Tribune even considers “insignificant”.
In its inside pages, Tribune argues that this is a “truly false reduction in the cost of living”. “For these [nouveaux] price, we didn’t understand. It might not be a big deal. But thank you very much. Because it lowers tension”, writes the ticket agent of Bès Bi Le Jour, in the spirit of the newspaper’s front page: “Lower tension”.
“Cornered by the populations exhausted by the crisis, the tandem in power has tried at all costs to make a gesture to silence the impatience of the Senegalese over the drop in the cost of living”, according to the daily Kritik’.
“The head of government, who made a grocer’s calculation, still managed to impact prices. But the efforts made by Ousmane Sonko to the tune of 53 billion CFA on the national budget are only crumbs in the face of the growing demand of the Senegalese who will have to face the facts that they will have to consume locally to drastically reduce the cost of food. life”, adds the same newspaper.
The Observer especially insists on “the acrobatics of the State and the compromises of the actors”. “Consolation prize”, says the newspaper, informing that the new authorities “have agreed to customs waivers, since the subsidy on certain products could be too heavy”.
In fact, reports L’info, this drop in prices “costs the State more than 53 billion compared to 142 billion in 2023, thanks to a new approach which favors interventions on taxation instead of subsidies”.
The government does not intend to change course, however, if we are to believe its secretary general. “Our objective is to have a cost of living in Senegal among the cheapest in Africa by boosting local production,” said Ahmadou Al Aminou Lô, whose comments are reported by the daily Libération.
While waiting for better, the announced measures leave some newspapers somewhat doubtful, like the newspaper Le Quotidien which displays: “Basket of questions”. “The announced drop in basic necessities could not occur before Tabaski. And it would not have the scale announced with great fanfare by the authorities either,” underlines Le Quotidien.
He points out that one of Senegal’s famous consumerists, namely Momar Ndao, “decreed that there was, to date, only an announcement effect”. Walfquotidien also notes that consumerists “remain hungry”.
The newspaper reports that consumer associations “expressed reservations about the announcement of the drop in food prices. They were hoping for bolder measures because these reductions don’t change much.”
Le Soleil notes, however, that the shopkeepers’ association and UNACOIS-Yessal “align” with these measures, while the director of internal trade gives assurances on the front page of the same newspaper. “We are well equipped for price control,” says Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Ndao.
Vox Populi adds that the State has planned “radical support measures”. The newspaper cites the return to the system of control stores in all localities, the strengthening of economic control but also the monitoring by citizens of approved prices. The survey also reviews these support and regulatory measures.
B.K.
