Egg prices' upsurge: Mutual accusations and calls to resume importing
Despite the Ministry's attempts to curb the soaring egg prices by pricing it between 5,000 and 5,500 dinars, traders and markets had something else up their sleeve.
The Ministry of Agriculture, for its part, described traders who raise the eggs' prices as greedy and exploiters, "Two days ago, the Ministry instructed poultry owners to set the price of the dozen of eggs at 5,000 dinars. The citizens are supposed to buy it at a price between 5,500 and 6,000 dinars. Those who raise prices beyond the Ministry's limits ate greedy parasites who take advantage of the citizens' daily livelihood," Hameed Al-Nayif, Ministry of Agriculture's spokesperson, told Shafaq News Agency.
Al-Nayif continued, "Some poultry owners have sold eggs directly to citizens. Yet, they cannot cover all the governorates' needs."
He also called on citizens to contact the economic security to complain about whoever raises the eggs' prices outrageously.
Muhsin Al-Hasani, a wholesale trader, commented, "The Ministry of Agriculture cannot control egg prices because most poultry owners belong to the private sector, so they will not adhere to the fixed egg prices."
"After setting the eggs prices at 5,000 dinars, the ministry then increased the price of the egg parcel to 74,000 dinars, i.e., a dozen of eggs was sold at more than 6,250 dinars," Al-Hasani said, adding that the lack of subsidiary for poultry farms owners is a major reason behind their incompliance with the prices set by the Ministry.
"The traders did not raise the eggs' price arbitrarily. Rather, it was due to the difficulty of transporting eggs from the southern regions, especially after the emergence of bird flu," he added.
"The solution to the prices crises is to import from neighboring countries," Ali Latif told Shafaq News agency, indicating that the government has done the same before when the prices of some vegetables rose bluntly.
Ali added, "It makes no sense for the Ministry of Agriculture to stand idly by without finding quick solutions. There are no laws in force in Iraq. The governorates decide and execute at whim without a restrain, and the citizen has become the victim here."
"Economic security ceases to exist in Iraq. We are under the thumbs of traders and the indifference of the government," Ahmed Sobeih told Shafaq News agency, "the Ministry is unable to do anything to curb the prices except [issuing] statements. Only importing can save it now, like in the past."
It is noteworthy that a dozen of eggs jumped from 5,000 dinars to more than 6,500 dinars in retail stores in only a week. This was prompted by the decision of some governors to prohibit inter-governorate poultry flocks movements after the emergence of bird flu in farms in Basra.
