Local
Amidst ongoing economic developments and close monitoring of local market movements, competent authorities revealed the existence of strict governmental actions and procedures aimed at maintaining the stability of food prices and protecting the purchasing power of citizens, especially vulnerable social strata that might be affected by current fluctuations. In this context, the General Company for Foodstuffs Trading, affiliated with the Ministry of Trade, confirmed on Thursday that there are clear official directives from the government to deal with any economic emergency, stressing that there is no shortage whatsoever in the food basket items allocated to citizens and social protection network beneficiaries alike. Regarding the details of the ongoing field and logistical operations for distributing supplies, the General Manager of the Company, Lama Al-Mousawi, explained in press statements made to the official agency that foodstuff agents flocked on Thursday to various sites and centers affiliated with the company in the capital, Baghdad, and the rest of the provinces in order to receive the citizens' designated shares, as well as the shares of the social protection network. She confirmed that the process of completing the supply for all agents will be fully finished within a period not exceeding fifteen days to ensure the arrival of materials at their specified times without any additional delay. Al-Mousawi affirmed that the company plays a pivotal role and is considered the primary safety valve and the permanent presence in facing various crises and emergency circumstances, especially when observing any unjustified rise in the prices of basic foodstuffs or even other materials in free markets. She indicated that the efforts exerted are not limited to essential commodities only, but extend to comprehensively monitoring the market to deter any negative practices that could harm the Iraqi consumer and exploit general conditions. Regarding the common controversy and news that recently spread about a potential shortage in the components of the food basket, she strongly denied these rumors completely, explaining that there is no deficiency in the materials. She pointed out that what was raised about tomato paste or flour is untrue, as the distributed materials are the same and with the designated quantities without any deletion. She noted that the slight delay that occurred in the previous batch of tomato paste was exclusively due to emergency regional circumstances witnessed in the region represented by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, without deducting any quantity allocated to citizens as all dues reached their beneficiaries directly. As for the contents of the current share and the ministry's future programs, she indicated that the current batch covers all basic materials such as rice, tomato paste, legumes, sugar, and oil for the regular basket, while additional materials are added including milk, tea, and zero flour for the social protection category, alongside increasing the quantities granted of oil and sugar materials. She explained that the government program had previously set the distribution of eight food baskets during the year, but in view of observing price hikes in the markets recently, a governmental directive was issued in direct coordination with the Ministry Trade to adopt a larger number of meals if the field situation requires that to absorb any wave of price inflation. The statements concluded by pointing out that the new directives included readiness to increase the number of meals to reach ten baskets if needed, with the primary objective of preventing the reflection of price increases noticeably on citizens. She warned that some speculative and greedy traders deliberately exploit the circumstances to raise prices in a way that directly and negatively affects vulnerable classes, confirming at the same time that the government has taken all proactive preparations to ensure the stability of food security in the country.
