Bakery Owners in Aden, Yemen Urge Government to Raise Bread Prices
(AWP) - Bakery owners in the Yemeni city of Aden gave the government a 15-day deadline to raise the price of a loaf of bread from 70 to 100 Yemeni riyals citing rising costs of “fuel, worker wages, rents and taxes.”
Abdel-Jalil Abdel-Rahman, an official of the Aden Bakeries Association, said the decision to raise the price of bread was taken after some bakeries in the cities filed for bankruptcy due to their accumulated debts.
He said, “Some bakeries have declared bankruptcy and shut down because of soaring costs of materials. They were unable to continue. We and other debt-ridden bakeries had to raise the price of a bread loaf to 100 riyals to be able to go on.”
He added, “After the price increase, we were summoned by the local authority, the governor and the Minister of Trade and Industry to discuss the issue. We suspended the increase for 15 days in the hope of reaching a solution; either through support or other appropriate measures.”
Khaled Hashim Mohamed, a bakery owner that employs about 80 workers, said the last price increase for bread was three years ago, when it rose from 50 to 70 riyals after the U.S. dollar’s exchange rate reached 1,700 riyals.
He explained, “As a result of the hardships we are facing these days, including the increases in the prices of oil derivatives, workers’ wages, store rent and taxes, we have raised the price of a loaf of bread from 70 to 100 Yemeni riyals (roughly $0.28 to $0.40). If we go on like this, we will be bankrupt and have to shut down the store. People do not appreciate this predicament.”
Walid al-Meliki, another bakery owner and a member of the Aden Bakeries Association, referred to several bakeries that had to shut down due to accumulated debts.
He said, “Automated bakeries have incurred so many losses. We received reports from bakeries about their debts, some exceeding 50 million riyals and others 70 million. They all defaulted on their debt repayment.”