In the last eleven months, inflationary growth has placed the Yucatecan capital among the five most expensive cities in the country. Consumer prices remain above the national average, even though the average salary in Merida is ranked 20th, that is, among the lowest nationwide.
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), in the month of March inflation once again touched a record above 8.80 percent, 1.9 more than the national average that was estimated at 6.9 percent, which it puts a high pressure on the pockets of the most economically oppressed families in Merida.
According to this indicator, compared to the month of February, the inflation index in the third month of the year showed a decrease of 1.18 percent, when an increase of almost 10 percent was reported. Although the reduction in inflation allows a breather for the economy, the price increases are maintained primarily in products of the basic basket, which significantly reduces the diet of families.
These data also report a high impact on the purchasing power of lower-salaried workers, who must pay high prices for essential products, when their labor compensation does not increase in the same way that the price of the most essential products grows.
The products that reported significant increases are: lemon with a monthly variation of 26.73 percent, air transport with a variation of 25.99 percent and packaged tourist services, which presented a variation of 8.59 percent. However, hundreds of families managed to take a few days off to go to the beach.
Meanwhile, the products that represented a drop in their prices were: cucumber with a drop of 15.93 percent and domestic natural gas, with a decrease of 6.34 percent. Throughout this process, the affectation of prices increases gradually due to uncertainty, insecurity and the costs of the fluctuation of fuels in the transport of merchandise.
On this subject, Levy Abraham Macari, president of the National Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism of Mérida (Canaco-Mérida), asserted that the reduction in inflation is important news for the commercial sector that has seen its sales decrease, primarily retail to be able to overcome the conditions of the stability margins of their businesses.
He explained that the high costs of products have been difficult and the population is feeling the problem, although the state’s economy is quite stable, employment has been created, salary conditions still represent a serious problem, mainly because 85 percent of the population earn between two and three minimum wages, which is putting pressure on the conditions in their daily work.
Source: Yucatan Ahora
