Price of bread: in Senegal, the government is putting manufacturers against the wall

Published on June 26, 2024

Lecture : 1 minute.

Flour manufacturers, united in the Association of Industrial Millers of Senegal (Friends), reacted to the government’s injunctions by “inviting” their seven companies “to resume their production activities”. The June 23, Friends announced “a temporary stop” in the production of baking flour from the next day “to avoid selling at a loss”.

She considered that the decision of the authorities to reduce the price of a 50 kg bag of flour by 4,000 FCFA (6.10 euros) made “economic viability difficult for millers”.

The government announced this reduction the June 21, which was to accompany that of the price of the popular 190 gram baguette, reduced from 175 FCFA to 150 FCFA, a reduction of 25 FCFA (0,038 euro).

“Clarifying subsidy mechanisms”

The prices of broken rice, refined oil, cement and crystallized sugar are also affected by these reduction measures.

The government had “put in remains” local flour manufacturers “to continue (their) production activities, in compliance with the newly agreed prices”, and threatened to take “all its responsibilities, without excluding any option”, In a statement.

L’Amis indicated that its “decision to stop production” was an invitation to the government to clarify the subsidy mechanisms in order not to jeopardize the activity of industrial”, in his press release.

The new president Bassirou Diomaye Faye had promised during the campaign to fight against the high cost of living while Senegal imports the essential of its consumption. To lower prices, the government intends to renounce the collection of “taxes and customs duties” owed by importers, explained the minister. charge you Budget Cheikh Diba.

Poverty affects at least one in three Senegalese, with unemployment officially around 20%, persistent inequalities and inflation high.

(With AFP)