지치지 않고 오르는 장바구니 물가... 소비자, 소상공인 덮친다
South Korea today reported that consumer inflation in July was at 2-point-6 percent.
And if you're buying groceries or filling up the gas tank in Korea, you may have noticed the bill getting a little bigger.
Inflation's been especially noticeable when it comes to food, and it has been in other countries too... in part because of poor weather hitting supplies.
Kim Sung-min reports.
"If you feel like you’re having to pay a little more for almost everything these days, from groceries to gas,… well,… you’re right on that.
For example, if I bought this packet of ramyeon for 60 cents, then from two weeks’ time, it’ll cost me 64 cents."
South Korea's biggest ramyeon producers are raising prices.... to cover the rising costs of ingredients like flour and palm oil.
And such a surge in prices can be seen across the country, from oil prices to the cost of dining out or traveling.
What affects us the most,.. is of course groceries prices.
Both eggs and garlic saw price jumps of around 50 percent,... forcing consumers to be thriftier.
"And this is not just a matter of looking for cheaper options at grocery stores. For hundreds of thousands of restaurants like the ones behind me, their livelihoods are at stake."
72-year-old restaurant owner Song Myung-sup says he has no choice but to endure the damage from inflation as he is seeing a drop in sales amid the pandemic.
"45 percent. The raw material prices rose 45 percent. It's now a little bit lower than winter but it's still expensive. But I cannot raise the price of the dishes. So restaurant owners like us are bound to take the hit."
It'll take some time for the flare up in food commodities to cool down since the inflation is currently a global trend.
The monthly food price index compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has surged over the past year, with May showing the biggest on-year jump in a decade.
This is due to poor weather across the world like cold waves and droughts in the U.S., Brazil and Argentina.
Although global food price inflation has passed the peak, it'll take a few months for the decline to be felt by consumers.
Based on these factors, the International Monetary Fund expects global food prices to rise by 3-point-2 percent over the course of this year.
Kim Sung-min, Arirang News.
#SouthKorea #consumer #price
2021-08-03, 19:00 (KST)
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