In the midst of the Covid-19 wave, the country of 44 million inhabitants suffers from a shortage of basic foodstuffs such as rice, sugar and milk. Fruit and vegetable prices have skyrocketed in recent weeks.
The Council of the Nation, upper house of the Algerian Parliament, announced the creation of a commission on “the shortage and speculation of basic food products ” that the country has been going through for many months. The government wants in particular to increase the sanctions against the stocks of foodstuffs, while long queues form in front of the food stores. The Algerian Senate’s measure follows the sharp rise in the prices of sugar, rice, onions and potatoes in this country of 44 million inhabitants which also suffers from shortages of powdered milk, edible oil, etc.
According to our sources, Food prices in Algeria have experienced record rates, while the country is struggling to finance imports to cope with an acute shortage of basic necessities. The budget for 2022, which provides for the equivalent of $ 17 billion in social transfers, including compensatory measures and aid to education, health, housing and the family, may prove insufficient to calm the streets angry.
Algeria is struggling to fight against “monopolies and illegal speculation which threaten the stability, cohesion and social immunity of the nation,” said the upper house, comments repeated by the APS agency. In this sense, the agency denounced “the hostile and shameful practices and behavior of certain speculators whose objective is the subsistence of citizens”.
Thus, the Council of Nation has taken the decision to launch this parliamentary commission to investigate the problems which arise in the country with the “shortage and the monopoly” of certain basic consumer goods.
“The committee will investigate the causes of this crisis, its instigators and the parties that fuel it to counter the repeated malicious behavior of speculators who continue their selfish actions to the detriment of manufacturers and consumers,” noted the Council.
Finally, the upper house of Parliament reminded “all speculators” that the body has already approved a law on the fight against illegal speculation, and that “it will attack all parties that seek to undermine the sovereignty of the country and the subsistence of the Algerians ”.
The Council specified that “it will begin its work by implementing a short-term action program in accordance with the relevant measures”.
This rule, already published this Thursday in the country’s Official Journal, provides for prison sentences and even life sentences for convicted speculators.
Algerian food stores have recorded for a few weeks an absence of basic products such as oil or milk, which have also seen their prices increase, the newspaper said. ‘All About Algeria’.