While the purchasing power of Algerian citizens is experiencing an inexorable fall, food prices continue to increase. No product was spared, after the soaring price of vegetables and fruit, it was the turn of chicken, which was the most accessible meat for poor families.
It is in this tense socio-economic context that the National Autonomous Union of Public Administration Staff (NAUPAS) reacted today, September 15, by issuing a press release. According to a study conducted by NAUPAS, the interprofessional minimum growth wage (the minimum wage) Must not be below 50 thousand dinars in Algeria, so that it complies with the standards set by the World Bank (WB) concerning the threshold of poverty.
Indeed, it was mentioned in the union’s press release that the monthly income of an Algerian family which consists of six members on average must not be less than 46,720 Da for each family. And this, in accordance with the standards established by the World Bank which set the poverty line at 1.90 dollars/day per person.
NAUPAS adds in its press release that the minimum wage in Algeria, which is currently set at 20,000 dinars, which is approximately equivalent to 147 dollars, is considered to be the lowest on the African continent and the Arab world. Therefore, the institution in question reiterates the need and the urgency to increase the minimum wage which must reach at least the sum of 50 thousand Dinars.
Declining purchasing power
The exorbitant and exaggerated prices of food products generate debate and feed national news. To this end, several specialists, in particular economists, reacted. This is the case of Ali Daoud, teacher, and researcher at the Algiers School of agronomy.
The latter, who spoke yesterday on the National Radio, tried to explain this phenomenon by several contingents. According to him, “the increase in demand following the global economic recovery, has stagnated since the start of the health crisis, particularly in China, Europe and the USA” is at the origin of this increase.
In addition, “inflation and rising energy prices, which is a very important element of production”. In addition, meteorological factors, particularly drought, have also impacted harvest volumes, which explains “the soaring prices of products resulting from the processing of imported raw materials”, according to the same speaker.
As a solution to this crisis linked to foodstuffs, the president of APOCE, in this case, Dr. Mustapha Zebdi proposed to “lower or completely eliminate the value-added tax VAT of certain consumer products in order to preserve the purchasing power of the citizen”. On the other hand, he calls for “to fix the profit margin of the list of necessary products” and to create a “national consumer protection agency”.
What repercussions on the purchasing power of the citizen with all these increases especially during this period of social re-entry?
