Government Moves to Address Food Prices by Increasing Rations

The General Company for Food Trade at the Ministry of Trade revealed on Thursday that speculative traders are contributing to a noticeable rise in food prices, confirming the launch of strict measures to maintain market stability and address any price fluctuations that could harm vulnerable classes. The company's general manager, Lama Al-Moussawi, stated in remarks monitored by media platforms that food agents flocked today to locations in the capital, Baghdad, and the provinces to receive the citizens' ration items as well as social protection network shares, emphasizing the completion of processing for all agents within a period not exceeding fifteen days. Al-Moussawi affirmed that the institution represents a safety valve and intervenes effectively in crises and circumstances of rising prices for basic commodities and others, denying any shortage in the food basket items and addressing rumors regarding the deletion of materials such as tomato paste and flour, explaining that the slight delay in the previous meal regarding tomato paste resulted from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the region without any deduction from citizens' shares. She added that the current meal includes all core items such as rice, tomato paste, legumes, sugar, and oil for the regular basket, with qualitative additions including milk, tea, zero-flour, and doubled quantities of oil and sugar for social protection beneficiaries. She continued that the government program mandates the distribution of eight baskets, with new government directives in coordination with the Ministry of Trade to raise the number of meals to ten baskets if necessary to curb the noticeable rise in prices resulting from the greed of some traders and speculators, indicating that price stability will exempt the competent authorities from increasing meals while proactive preparations remain in place throughout the current year.