Prices of basic good stabilise, survey finds Nicosia cheaper than other towns for many items.
PRICES of basic goods have stabilised and very few items on the market are showing price fluctuations, the latest survey of the Commerce Ministry Competition and Consumers’ Protection Service has shown.
The survey, carried out in early October, showed that in addition to overall price stabilisation, there were more price reductions in Nicosia.
The study also showed that companies were going ahead slowly with adjusting prices on certain goods after the reduction of VAT from 15% to 5% on certain goods and cuts in consumer tax and that these reductions were not showing in the market as yet.
The study showed that about 90% of companies have adjusted their prices on the basis of reductions proposed by the Finance Ministry.
The third price-monitoring service of the Commerce Ministry covered dairy and bakery products as well as 17 new categories of basic products.
Food items
The new study covered a total of 346 basic consumer products sold in supermarkets, bakeries, and butchers on an islandwide basis as well in local supermarkets, bakeries and butchers in all towns.
The products concern 20 categories of products, mainly covering food items, house cleaning products and personal hygiene items used on a daily basis.
The study showed that, as a result of stiffer competition, prices of basic goods in Nicosia were cheaper than in other towns.
The same supermarket sells full-fat Charalambides milk at 58 cents in Nicosia and 68 cents in Paphos.
Baby lamb is sold at £3.29 per kilo in Nicosia and at £3.94 in other towns.
There are cases when products are up to £2 more expensive in other towns, compared to Nicosia, such as Souroullas kefalotiri, which is sold from £7.60 to £9.75 in Nicosia and at up to £9.99 per kilo in Limassol.
Boosts
The study showed that there are also slight price differences between supermarkets in the same town.
The head of the Competition and Consumers’ Protection Service at the Commerce Ministry, Christos Malikkides, said that the stabilisation and reduction of prices shows that monitoring prices boosts competition.
The study, he added, also encourages consumer consciousness and is a useful tool for consumers.
The study showed that supermarkets are cheaper when it comes to bakery and meat products than bakers and butchers respectively.
Full details of the latest price survey can be found on the ministry’s Internet site www.mcit.gov.cy.
Consumers’ Association president Petros Marcou told The Cyprus Weekly that the organisation always supported the monitoring of prices and that it considers the study “a useful tool for the consumer.
“That prices have stabilised is satisfactory and we appeal to consumers to compare prices in different supermarkets for their own benefit,” he said.
