Cabinet members conduct price
Cabinet members yesterday inspected wet markets as per the instruction of the prime minister in order to see for themselves about rising prices in Bangkok and surrounding areas.
PM Yingluck Shinawatra took time herself to shop at an OTOP market in Rayong following her hospital visit to victims of an industrial accident at Map Ta Phut.
Yingluck bought several local delicacies, including fresh durian, which is in season, and fried durian.
She said the price fluctuations could be attributed to several factors such as supply and demand, fuel costs and the weather, all of which were beyond the government’s control.
She said she expected vegetable prices to normalise after the summer, and that flood-hit areas would suffer a higher price increase than flood-free zones.
Deputy Transport Minister Chatt Kuldiloke checked food prices in Samut Prakan.
Information and Communications Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap did his shopping at the popular Ying Charoen market in Bang Khen district. Vice Labour Minister Anusorn Krawatsussorn went to markets in Nakhon Pathom.
Anudith said the seasonal fluctuation in prices of food and essential goods was the same as last year’s. He attributed the soaring price of vegetables to the heat wave.
National Institute for Development Administration rector Sombat Thamrongthanyawong said the government needed to explain the factors behind the price increases.
Agencies should review whether price increases are in conformity with the market mechanism or a result of hoarding or other market manipulations, he said.
“The government should not just say the price increase was a matter of perception or misperception, because it will lose credibility if the people see that the cost of living is actually rising, and not just a matter of their imagination,” he said.
Democrat MP Sansern Samalapa said he found the price index rose 20.5 per cent, and not 10 per cent as claimed by the government.
Sansern said the 2.47-per-cent inflation did not reflect the actual price rises for food. The Commerce Ministry computed the inflation rate by claiming the price of string bean was Bt30 per kilogram, when the actual price was Bt60, he said.
He urged the government to tackle the fuel price, which was a major transport cost pushing up wholesale and retail prices, instead of trying to manipulate the economic indicators.
He said he did not detect a trend for lowering fuel costs, hence he saw no possibility of prices coming down as the government hoped.
