The Government concludes that food prices are no longer going to continue to rise, despite the uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine, that they have already "reached their ceiling" and that from now on they will begin to fall. The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has explained to the representatives of the sector, in an extraordinary meeting of the Food Chain Observatory held this Monday, that the economic prospects that the Executive manages for the coming months are positive and that Therefore, it is not necessary to expand the measures underway, as requested by the wing of United We Can.
In the meeting, of great interest to the sector, the minister explained that a "positive evolution in product costs" is already taking place, despite the fact that the war in Ukraine does not see a resolution in the medium term, and has asked Therefore, the actors involved in the food chain make an effort so that this optimistic evolution "has an effect on food prices". That is to say, that the reduction in the prices of origin and production that is going to begin is transferred to the entire evolution of the products and, therefore, is reflected in the final consumer. Planas has affirmed that "the response of all the participants [to this request] has been positive." Both farmers and ranchers or representatives of the distribution employers were present at the meeting.
Agriculture is clear, therefore, that in the coming weeks and months the food chain will experience a progressive reduction in production costs. The ministry relies on data from the FAO and also on the evolution of the prices of grain, gas and fertilizers to reach this conclusion.
The minister has also highlighted that the price of food has behaved better in Spain than in the rest of the EU. "We must not lose this perspective," Planas stressed. On the causes of the price increases, at source and throughout the entire value chain, the minister highlighted what he has defined as a "fundamental factor": drought.
Faced with this scenario, the Executive considers that "there are objective reasons for food prices to drop and a change in trend to take place," Planas has proclaimed. The minister, who has stressed that he speaks "on behalf of the Government", has concluded that the measures that are in force "are working" and, therefore, it is necessary to be "persistent". In other words, the socialist wing of the coalition rejects new tax cuts, extending the VAT cut to meat and fish or subsidizing the final ticket by 14%, as United Podemos has claimed.
For Planas, the tax measures and the 200-euro bonus that can be requested since last week "are measures that show a certain willingness to support the middle and working class." "You have to persist" in them, added the minister. "These are two elements that are effective and should be over time." The person in charge of Agriculture has concluded that the problem of costs "is not resolved in 24 hours".
Luis Planas has also ruled out that distribution is expanding its margins after the VAT reduction that came into effect on January 1. The investigation activated by the CNMC will draw its conclusions, but the comment a month and a half later from the head of Agriculture is that after the fiscal and support measures "we have stopped the increase in prices and I hope that we will go towards a reduction in them" .
