Lower cost of living

Letters

THE cost of living in Papua New Guinea is very high.
One contributing factor is the price of food such as rice, flour, sugar and tinned fish.
These food items have steadily increased over the past years.
It is evident people that people are struggling to afford food.
Meals are skipped just to save something for dinner before going to bed.
An average salary earner struggles to ensure that a 10kg bag of rice lasts for two weeks before reaching the next payday.
That is worrying.
Many tourists and foreign nationals complain about the high cost of living, particularly the cost of basic groceries.
It seems bizarre for foreign nationals to see very high prices of food items on the shelves in our supermarkets.
Food is a basic necessity for human survival and its price should be reasonable for Papua New Guineans to afford sufficiently.
For example; in Australia and New Zealand, you can buy a loaf of bread with only a dollar.
In Papua New Guinea, a loaf of bread costs about four or five times more.
Demand and supply of other commodities can be increased depending on the market.
But food should be affordable to the people.
It will be a breather for Papua New Guineans if the Government can introduce a food subsidy policy as its priority.
If the Government wants something significant, it should consider implementing a food subsidy policy.
The policy will help address all other issues that affect every day ordinary Papua New Guineans.
Lower the cost of living and make food more accessible for our citizens.

Maru Igabi

2 comments

  • And the sad reality is that this is a country bursting at the seams with natural resources and commodities but steeped in debts.

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