07/04/2023
At the risk of committing a heresy on these holy days, a client asked in a minimarket what the 30 coins that Judas obtained for betraying Jesus Christ would be enough for in these times.
“Ten years ago a kilo of arracacha was available for less than $1,000, today it is worth almost $6,000, what if that little meal was really good! With that price, not even the Iscariot would pay so much for the ticket, ”said the buyer, while he looked, quite mortified, at the values of the different products on the shelves.
And it is that according to the Dane accounts, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the last year reached 13.34%, a level close to the 13.51% observed 24 years ago. For Medellín and Valle de Aburrá, the indicator is 35 hundredths lower, standing at 12.99%, driven as in the rest of the country by variations in food prices, both at home and in restaurants (see graph).
In line with the top 3 of the foods that observe a greater inflationary variation in the Dane figures, the arracacha, the onion and the plantains appreciate increases in their prices of 318.1%, 45% and 42.8% respectively, compared to those they had a year ago.
Thus, a kilo of arracacha in the Central Mayorista de Antioquia rose, in the last twelve months, from $1,375 to $5,750; that of branch onion from $2,000 to $2,900 and that of green plantain from $2,800 to $4,000.
For the Antioquia economist, Claudia Bustamante, the numbers should not be a cause for surprise, since according to her, historically the first three months of the year tend to be the most difficult in terms of inflation, and although fruits and vegetables vary in price, businessmen in the supermarkets express that everything continues with high prices.
The costs of beef also cause comments, and in the outlets the recurring comment is: “eating meat is really a luxury”, since cuts of less than $10,000 per pound are rare.
In the Central Ganadera de Medellín at the beginning of April 2022, a kilo of live cattle was traded between $7,400 and $9,300, at the end of March it was between $8,500 and $10,350, that is, increases ranging between 11.2% and 14.8%.
But, in the butcher shops the accounts are of a different caliber and it is not strange to see a pound of beef loin with prices between $31,350 and $24,000; rump point between $23,750 and $22,250; and other fine cuts between $25,250 and $22,000.
And in restaurants, dishes prepared with some of these proteins do not go below $40,000, with portions of 250 grams.
mortifying accounts
The increases in gasoline prices and their impact on passenger and merchandise movements are other components of the higher cost of living. As of March, the inflation of expenses that has to do with transportation in Medellín is 15.98%. .
With the announcements from the Government to continue with the increases in this fuel, and possibly from the second half of the acpm, it is estimated that transport will maintain a positive inflationary variation.
The bills for public services, and in particular for electricity, do not give up either, and despite the repeated intention of the president, Gustavo Petro, to reduce rates, the objective has not yet crystallized.
According to Dane, the annual CPI of the expense associated with electricity, gas and other fuels is 21.67%, as of March. The figure is well above the 13.34% of the national average reached by total inflation.
Javier Gaviria, president of the National League of Residential Public Services Users, explained that in order to lower electricity rates it is necessary to de-dollarize the treatment of components such as the reliability charge, to lower the returns recognized for the companies that provide the service transmission, distribution and commercialization, all above 12%, when according to a study by the Trade Union Association of Electrical Engineers of Bogotá, in Europe it is 4.38%.
What is clear so far is that the cost of living maintains the Via Crucis for homes that are waiting for their soon term, and that redemption arrives for the pocket.