Basma told Reuters: “We are no longer able to confront the insane and huge rise in prices.”
She added, “The rhythm of modern life forced us to leave the habits of grandmothers, and Ramadan brings us back to them with a sweeping nostalgia to celebrate the holy month, but we are also forced to abandon many habits, whether preparing food or making sweets that we desire to eat in Ramadan and on Eid.”
The Tunisian shopping basket in Ramadan lost a number of its components due to the flames of prices, so families are no longer able to provide the dishes they used to during the month of fasting.
Families’ appetite for making Eid sweets, such as the “samsa” dessert, which mainly consists of dry fruits, butter and sugar, has declined due to the high cost of raw materials or their lack in the market, such as sugar, which Tunisians are still queuing for hours in search of a kilogram of it.
Tunisia is experiencing an acute shortage of a list of basic materials, in addition to the rise in fuel and transportation prices, which may increase the pressure on the pockets of Tunisians, especially with the state announcing the gradual lifting of subsidies, which heralds an economic crisis.
Sharifa Ben Arabia, a widow whose retirement pension after 18 years spent working in a clothing factory does not exceed $120 per month, spoke of her suffering with this small amount, which does not provide her with medicine and food in front of the high prices of all materials.
According to the data of the National Institute of Statistics, food prices increased in March by 15.7 percent, due to the increase in the prices of lamb by 34.2 percent, eggs by 31.3 percent, poultry by 23.8 percent, food oils by 23.7 percent, and beef by 21.8 percent.
In contrast to Sharifa, the impact of the suffocating economic crisis in Tunisia was less severe for the retired employee, Khaldoun Bin Ammo (65 years old), and the reason is that his daughter works in a Gulf country and provides him with financial transfers on a monthly basis, which helped him cope with the cost of living with his wife.
The Tunisian Organization for the Defense of Consumers considers that it is no longer possible to accurately define standards to control the average income of the Tunisian citizen in light of the price gouging, which also swept other sectors other than consumer goods, such as transport, fuel, internet, rent and energy.
“We were talking about an average income ranging between 1,000 and 1,500 dinars. This income is not enough to cover the cost of living in Tunisia today,” says Ammar Diya, head of the organization.
Tunisians usually cling to their customs during the month of Ramadan, by securing supplies despite the difficult economic conditions and the worsening rise in food prices.
They are also keen to adhere to the customs, traditions and rituals of their ancestors over the years during this month.
Today, however, they are forced to abandon some of their habits, especially those related to their dietary behavior, so that the demand for expensive dishes, such as those consisting of lamb, whose price has risen to $ 15 per kilogram, has increased, in addition to the decline in consumption of fresh dairy, dry fruits, eggs, and other products that She was not absent from the Tunisian family’s table during Ramadan.
Lotfi Riahi, head of the Tunisian Organization for Consumer Guidance, blamed the state for the high cost of living in Tunisia by leaving the markets at the mercy of the law of supply and demand.
“The state is responsible for protecting the consumer and the citizen by fixing prices, especially for materials that are in high demand,” Al-Riahi added in his speech.
And the authorities imposed a package of measures before the month of Ramadan in an attempt to control prices, such as setting profit margins and maximum selling prices for some vital products such as eggs, chicken, and some fruits such as bananas and apples, and setting points “from producer to consumer” that sell at low prices in several states and imposed control on retailers. .
#Tunisians #abandon #customs #month #Ramadan #weight #high #cost #living