*El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has announced a proposal to suspend tariffs on all basic food basket products and 70 additional food items for a ten-year period, in what is his latest move to mitigate rising food prices. This follows earlier actions targeting price hikes, including supermarket inspections, among others. Annual inflation was running at 1.48% in June while figures from the central bank (BCR) widely cited in the media put the cost of the basic food basket at US$256.56 per month, against a minimum wage of US$243 in agriculture, US$359 in maquilas, and US$365 in trade and industry. Critics like local economist Rafael Lemus have questioned Bukele’s latest announcement, pointing out that many of these items have already been benefiting from tariff exemptions since March 2022.
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LatinNews Daily - 17 July 2024
In brief: El Salvador’s Bukele to suspend tariffs on basic food products
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