Prices keep souring after fuel prices rise

The rise in the prices of hydrocarbons decided by the government of Cameroon which entered into force July 1 has caused a surge in the prices of food products on the markets, thus causing an increase of final household consumption by 5%, PANA learned from authorized source.

According to the national institute of statistics (INS) of Cameroon, the increase in the price of fuel has also caused the increase in transportation costs with an impact on the prices of products of first necessity such as food products.

"Between 1 July and 1 September 2014, final consumption of households increased from 2.6 per cent in Douala and 2.4 per cent in Yaounde, the two main cities of Cameroon", noted the INS. In its cyclical note, INS stated that "in Douala, the prices of vegetables soared by 7.3 %.

The weekend that followed the increase in the price of fuel, a bag of potatoes which was sold at 20,000 FCFA is past to 25,000 FCFA on the wholesale market. Similarly, a basket of tomatoes which cost 8,000 FCFA increased to 10,000 FCFA. Strong increases were also recorded on the other starchy foods: banana dessert (17 %), plantain (14 %), sweet potato (17 %), white yam (11 %), cassava (14 %) and growing macabo (25 %) ".

"In Yaounde, specifies the same note, the prices for oils and fats, and those of vegetables increased respectively by 2.9 % and 1.6 %, while the prices of spices experienced an increase of 7.5 %". Despite the measures taken by the government, the soaring prices of food products in Yaounde and Douala is 14.2 % and 12.6% respectively, because of the high costs of transportation.