The president of the Federation of Bakers of Senegal, Amadou Gaye, castigated the approach of the State of Senegal on reducing the prices of foodstuffs, particularly bread. He said: “This reduction does not take into account the major concerns of bakers. The taxes imposed on us on inputs must be reviewed. We told the minister that if this reduction of 25 francs were to be made, it would also be necessary to reduce the price of the flour we buy by 6,500 francs. But the reduction only amounted to 4 thousand F. On this point, we have not found a consensus. This is not ultimately what was chosen. Therefore, we regret that the State cannot consider that bread is a social product, because the approach is not consensual. But we have measured all the efforts that the State is making for a minimum subsidy of 160 million Cfa per day so that flour drops by 4 thousand F.”
Furthermore, the president of the Fnbs calls for the elimination of the tax on bakery products and cheaper electricity pricing to support bakers. “Value Added Tax (VAT) should be suspended on all other products we pay for. And better yet, there is another tax in relation to the accompaniment of Customs at the port, all this must be avoided so that bread is today a social product. A social product also means lower pricing compared to Senelec. Moreover, in January, we even wanted to go on strike because of this,” he adds. Present at the National Consumer Council, Amadou Gaye intends to comply with the new decisions adopted on the price of bread. “The State has decided and we are not going to oppose it,” he assures. For the Director of Internal Trade, “discussions have begun to find a solution to these requests”. Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Ndao calls on “bakers for better collaboration to lighten the basket of the housewife”.
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