How the consumer's pocketbook is affected
The Consumer Protection Agency announces the Consumer Product Price Watch for the month of May 2023. The Watch shows the average weighted price for 250 basic consumer products (food and other products), based on the quantities and prices per day, at which these products were sold in 400 retail outlets throughout Cyprus, throughout the month.
The purpose of the Observatory is to provide the consumer with an objective comparative view of purchase prices from all retail stores, supermarkets, bakeries, bakeries, kiosks, etc.
In conclusion, the assessment made for the month of May shows that prices are maintained at approximately the same levels, which reflects the maintenance of inflation in food, which rose in the five months of January – May 2023 to 8.5% compared to the corresponding period last year, as in the first quarter. As can be seen in the table with the price indices for the month of May, in a total of 45 categories of basic products, 25 categories recorded increases of more than 1% and 17 categories showed decreases, with the main decreases in greens, milk, bread, eggs, baby diapers, baby milk and feminine hygiene products. It is noted that, from the inspections of the Service, it was evident that the zero rate VAT measure was universally applied to the 7 categories of products included in the Decree, with a reduction in prices and a very positive impact on consumers, especially on families with small children.
Flour (7%), rice (5%), Cypriot coffee (5%), oil (4.3%), frozen pasta (5.3%), fresh fish (10.6%) and all categories of frozen fish 6-37% (molluscs, fish and fish fillets) and meat fillets (2.7%). A smaller increase was recorded in toilet paper (3.7%), softeners (3.3%) and laundry detergents (1.1%).
The Consumer Protection Service clarifies that the Price Observatories are prepared exclusively for consumer information purposes and in no way constitute advice. Price Watchers are not intended and cannot substitute for the market research that each consumer should do based on their own preferences, data and needs, nor are they intended to indicate to consumers which points of sale to choose or specific products.
It is particularly noted that some of the products included in the Observatory have quality differences, which cannot be determined. For this purpose, the Service urges consumers to carry out substantial market research before proceeding with purchases, taking into account the results of the specific Observatory.
The detailed data of the Observatory are provided on the website of the Consumer Protection Service.
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