PRICES ARE UP BY MORE THAN 30%

The People newspaper, the mouthpiece of the ruling party, SPPF, in a front page article this week put the increases in prices as 11%. This is very far from the realities in the shops today. This morning (06/12/07) as this article was being written people was fighting over powdered milk (Dile Nido) in the SMB supermarket in Victoria; a 1.8 kg tin is now selling at Rs126, the very same tin costs Rs65 last year, an increment of Rs61, almost 100% increase on last year’s prices. The price of fuel at the pumps went up again on Monday this week, selling at a new high of Rs12 a litre. Fuel prices went up to Rs10 from Rs5.36 recently just after the National Assembly elections; the new increases more than double its original prices, another increase of over 100%. This is the reality of life today in the Seychelles; the most vulnerable, children and the elderly, are being hit hard as a result of the direct actions of this Government. Life under President Michel gets harder with each day that goes by.

According to the National Statistics Bureau (NSB), between July 2007 and October 2007, the rate of inflation stands at 10.6%. Over the same period, increases were recorded in the price of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (15.7%), Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (14.5%) and Non-Food (7.7%). On the other hand, a decrease was recorded in the price of Fish (2.7%) in October 2007 compared to July 2007. These figures as given to us by the NSB are already old figures; in just over a month the situation has changed drastically and has gotten worse. The real rate of inflation today, without massaging the figures as it is the case with the NSB figures, is estimated to be above 30% and it is still rising on a daily basis.

This is one bad dose of ‘Michelism’. President Michel has reduced the purchasing power of the populace by well over thirty percent. A person earning 2500 rupees is now making a net loss of over 700 rupees when it comes to buying, not luxuries, but ordinary household necessities; rice, milk, oil, margarine and the likes. Generally prices have gone up not by 11% as stated in the People newspaper but by more than 30%. “LAVI SESEL - ANBA MISEL - PA DIMYEL!

December 7, 2007
Copyright 2007: Seychelles Weekly, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles