From December to January, retailers estimate an average price increase of 10 to 15% for food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Other costs have risen by up to 17% for detergents, 19% for papers, 30% for alcoholic beverages, 15% for beers, 12.5% for imported dairy goods, 45% for sweets depending on brand, and 22% for imported water.
Traders anticipate that prices will level down in the second half of the year. With the price stability, the Albanian Trade Union has begun a proposal to the Ministry of Finance for the merger of the food board.
Despite the fact that there has been no evaluation on prices for months, the existence of the board is being exploited by inspectors to pressure fines, according to the firms.