For the president of the National Association of Self-Service and Department Stores (ANTAD), Vicente Yáñez Solloa, establish “guarantee prices” for basic food products; that is, setting a price for a certain product as proposed by the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, “in order to deal with inflation”, it is a mistake that should be reconsidered.
“Mexico already experienced price controls in the 1970s and 1980s, and it took us many years to get out of that”
This, Yañez Solloa explained, because each company has different response possibilities, since the capacity of a large national chain is not the same as that of a regional or local one; that is, not all economies would have the same possibilities of establishing fixed prices.
“All of us who participate in this value chain are going to commit ourselves to see how we can do our bit so that inflation does not do so much damage. But this has to be within the possibilities of each company, it is not about forcing price controls. Mexico experienced price control in the 1970s and 1980s, and it took us many years to get out of it,” said the president of ANTAD during the press conference held prior to the opening of Expo ANTAD and Alimentaria 2022.
Instead of benefits, he added, a price control will bring scarcity of products or black marketswhich would be worse for the Mexican market.
The president recalled that inflation is experienced not only in Mexico, but internationally due to a breakdown in supply chains “which have caused transport to go from two thousand dollars per container to up to 18 thousand dollars per container and that fuels have raised their cost”, as well as the war between Russia and Ukraine that has caused, among other issues, the increased cost of fertilizers used for crops.
Contrary to what was proposed by the President of Mexico, Yañez Solloa pointed out, the Bank of Mexico should be allowed to take the necessary measures to prevent inflation from continuing to rise in our country, although this will take time. According to economic specialists, he added, could stabilize within 18 months.
JM
