Cooking oils, meat prices up ahead of Easter

The cost of cooking oils, meat, veg, and a slew of other goods have risen across the board – with tomatoes up by 60 per cent and whole chickens by 16.5 per cent, according to the latest monthly survey issued by the consumer protection service on Friday.

A three-litre bottle of one brand of sunflower oil is up by 19.6 per cent and of another by 7.5 per cent, while even the price of pasta went up – with some products up by six per cent and others 14.2 per cent.

The biggest reduction recorded was in the price of cucumbers which are down by 27 per cent, from €3.98 a kilo to €2.88. Potatoes are up 18 per cent compared to last month,

The data, compiled by the consumer protection service, compares supermarket prices for average household goods from March 9 to April 13.

The cost of various types of fish was volatile, with sea bream up eight per cent but bogue down by 18 per cent.

The cost of meat also saw significant increases: with most types of pork cuts up by 13 per cent, whole chickens by 16.5 per cent and chicken breast by 12.4 per cent.

The situation in Cyprus is broadly in line with trends observed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN.

Last week, it issued a report which stated that the latest increase reflects new all-time highs for vegetable oils, cereals and meat sub-indices, while those of sugar and dairy products also rose significantly.

It said that in March, pig meat prices registered the steepest monthly increase on record since 1995 while The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index averaged 248.6 points in March, up 46.9 points (23.2 per cent) from February and hitting a new record high

The local price comparisons and data were collected by visits to 39 big and small supermarkets across the Republic.