La hausse des prix des commodités courantes inquiète la Consumer’s Union (CU), qui estime qu’il dès lors important que le gouvernement vienne de l’avant avec un système de contrôle des prix. C’est du moins ce que préconise l’association de défense des consommateurs dans un mémoire adressé au ministère des Finances dans le cadre de la préparation du prochain budget.
La CU rappelle que les prix des commodités de base ont pris l’ascenseur ces derniers temps, poussant les consommateurs à faire davantage attention au moment d’effectuer leurs achats. « We have recently witnessed an unprecedented Price Rise in Commodities. Our Panier Ration is costing us more and more. Our purse holds the same amount of money yet we are unable to meet our needs. Hence, consumers often have to forgo certain goods items and return back home from the market with lesser items than expected », indique Deepak Benydin, principal porte-parole de l’association.
Le syndicaliste poursuit : « according to the Statistics, the Mauritian rupee’s depreciation for 5 years stands at 16.04%. Depreciation in our Rupee from December 2022 to June 2023 is 4.6%. We understand that we highly depend on imported goods and this result in prices rising. »
Si Deepak Benydin admet qu’un Observatoire des prix a été mis sur pied, il estime toutefois que les consommateurs devraient être sensibilisés davantage quant à son fonctionnement. « In Mauritius, we have the Observatoire des prix which was set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Consumers protection. Moreover, a Mobile Application known as MOPRI was set up with the objectives to help consumers to be informed », ajoute le syndicaliste.
Deepak Benydin poursuit dans le document : « customers can also verify the prices of controlled products customize their basket of goods and compare prices of products between two outlets at a time. But customers don’t seem to be aware of MOPRI or the Price Observatory. »
Avant de conclure : « we believe that the concerned Ministry personnel and the Consumers Association ought to launch a vigorous campaign together. Both the Ministry and the Consumers Association should have more resources and manpower. The government should financially aid the Consumers Association to organise awareness-raising activities and training. Following the COMESA Regulations, Mauritius had to removed subsidy on some goods namely edible oil, pulses, etc. Following a decision of the Ministry of Commerce and Consumers Protection the Maximum price of Essential Goods Regulation 2021 have been promulgated with effect from 12 July 2021. »
