DR: More hardship

The Mejia administration announced that it is setting ceilings on the prices of chicken, eggs, cement and bottled water. The announcement was made by the director of the governmental Price Controls Department. In the past, the management of prices has been nothing but demagoguery, and very difficult to apply in today’s free market. But with 18 days to go before the Presidential election, the Mejia government wants to force vendors to cap their prices. Juan Bautista Villaman, director of the Price Controls Department, told the Listin Diario today that next week he would announce another 25 articles that will have price caps.

Resolution 04-2004 sets the highest prices for consumers of frozen chicken at RD$27 the pound. The cost of eggs is capped at RD$3.45 each. The price of cement is now capped at RD$245 per bag. 5-gallon bottles of water will be capped at the price of RD$29.