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Rising food prices affect people’s lives

ByWebmaster

Jan 18, 2023

BUJUMBURA January 17th (ABP) – The increase in the prices of basic food products has unfortunate consequences on the lives of Burundian citizens, said Mr. Gabriel Rufyiri, chairman of the Observatory for the fight against corruption and economic embezzlement (OLUCOME), during a press briefing he hosted on Monday, January 16, 2023.

Mr. Rufyiri said that according to the report of the Bank of the Republic of Burundi (BRB), from November 2021 to November 2022, the inflation rate reached 26.8% and the IMF shows that 80% of the people of Burundi are below the threshold. He added that this is the first time that Burundi has reached that level.

He also pointed out that the war that Russia has started in Ukraine and the Covid-19, are also factors that have caused the inflation that Burundi is going through.

Faced with this situation, the chair of OLUCOME offers solutions. Thus, he asks the Government of Burundi to set up an independent commission of experts in order to propose short, medium and long-term solutions, with the aim of controlling this inflation. It is also with the aim of adopting the budget which targets the growth sectors ahead, for the fight against inflation, to improve the business climate according to the indicators of doing business to attract more foreign investors. It is also to vigorously combat informal and fraudulent circuits for buying and selling currencies (black market), so as not to weaken formal operators.

For the people of Burundi, Mr. Rufyiri proposed to adopt all possible strategies to develop resilience by reducing non-essential expenses. Thus, he asked the churches as well as the political parties to refrain, for a moment, from the untimely demand of contributions to the people of Burundi being in extreme poverty.