In Algeria, the months of Ramadan follow one another and are similar. Expensive and speculation: an infernal duo that imposes its law on households. This year again, the prices of meats, vegetables, and fruits have taken the lift.
On this first day of the holy month of Ramadan 2021, the mercurial is out of control. The kilo of tomato, an essential ingredient for the preparation of the essential chorba, reached … 180 DA.
The potato happily follows suit. Sold around 55 DA just a few days ago, lady potato prances at 75 DA. The same goes for zucchini (120 DA), lettuce (170 DA), green beans (300 DA)… And the list goes on.
Display failure and prohibitive prices
A trip to the markets of the capital (Réda Houhou (ex-Clauzel) and Ferhat Boussaad (ex-Meissonnier) offered us the following table: annoyed customers, often buying a few vegetables individually, just to compose the ‘ ftour ‘ from this evening.
“There are five of us at home,” a mother tells us. “I spent 4500 DA just for tonight’s meal, without dessert. Impossible to anticipate the other days with these crazy prices,” she laments.
At the Réda Houhou market (Ex-Clauzel), many traders did not display the prices. Those who have done so are faced with the dismay of customers who no longer know how to fill their basket.
We have raised the prices and they make you dizzy: green bean: 300 DA, tomato: between 130 and 180 DA, peas: 160 DA, zucchini: 120 DA, lettuce: 170 DA, onion: 80 DA, cucumber: 120 DA, beetroot: 80 DA, eggplant: 100 DA, pepper: 170 DA, carrot: 80 DA, fennel: 80 DA, artichoke: 130 DA, lemon: 200 DA.
Meats are not within the reach of small purses, we also noted. Chicken is 360 DA/kg (its price soared a few weeks ago), shoulder of lamb at 1550 DA, minced meat at 1650 DA, lamb liver at 3800 DA, veal chops at 2100 DA, the chicken cutlet at 690 DA per kilo. The local lamb meat stamped ‘ Djelfa ‘ is offered around 1400 DA per kilo.
On the fruit side, things are also blazing: oranges: 260 DA, banana: 250 DA, apples: between and 480 DA or more than 50 DA compared to a week ago. Strawberries reached 400 dinars per kilo.
Dear, dear, the housewife’s basket
The spice, dried fruit, and olive stalls are also very popular with customers at the start of Ramadan. The olives are sold between 500 and 400 DA per kilo; Agen prunes, essential for the preparation of the famous “ham lahlou” (sweet meat): 1400 DA; dried apricots: 900 DA, white raisins: 1200 DA, black raisins: 900 DA, peanuts: 400 DA, almonds: 1750 DA.
The date, queen of the table in this holy month, costs more than 700 DA per kilo and crushed wheat (money) is sold between 400 and 450 DA.
Table oil has become beautiful
A quick tour of the convenience stores revealed the unavailability of edible oil on the shelves. Only a few hypermarkets like UNO offer Fleurial brand oil. This one is shunned by customers because of its high price: 1200 DA (5L); 535 DA (1.8L); 1070 DA (4L) and 255 DA (1 liter). “These prices are beyond comprehension,” protests a customer. “I will not buy it on principle“.
By way of comparison, you should know that a liter of table oil from the Elio label (Cevital) costs 125 DA because its price is subsidized and capped by the State. But this currently highly sought-after product is becoming scarce. “As soon as this oil is delivered, it is immediately robbed by customers who buy it with all their arms,” a cashier at UNO told us.
On the sugar side, the Kalb Ellouz (70 DA the piece) and the zalabia (350 DA per kilo) have reappeared on this first day of Ramadan.
The month of all speculation
We spoke with a few customers about this surge in consumer product prices.
“Every year it’s the same story. The traders indulge in speculation under the indifferent gaze of the public authorities”, launches a father to us. The impoverishment of the people is underway in a country which should guarantee food self-sufficiency with affordable prices for the entire population.
Today, it takes between 7000 and 10 000 DA to fill his basket, estimate the customers met in these markets.
This Ramadan promises to be more difficult than the others. The health crisis due to Covid-19 has deprived many fathers of families of income. For their part, the authorities have their work cut out for them in order to put an end to this speculation which inflames the markets every Ramadan.
