Newsmaker
'State's food security plan won't protect consumers'
The government's food security plan should focus on boosting production and dealing with household income issues rather than pricing, says economist Wandile Sihlobo
24 September 2023 - 08:27
If the government really wants to protect consumers from food price increases then it needs to grow the economy and tackle unemployment and the crippling costs of load-shedding and crime, says Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa.
Instructing the cabinet, as it did last week, to implement a “food security plan” more than six months after food price inflation started trending down from a high of 14.4% in March won't do it, he says. And he cautions against any attempt to use the plan as a pretext for price interference...
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