BANGKOK, 8 May 2012 – In the wake of the increased living cost at present, the Commerce Ministry is set to launch a special operation center in an attempt to ease the financial burdens of the people.
While other relevant ministries have been assigned by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to look into measures to alleviate the problems of the rising living cost for the public, particularly in the areas of transportation and energy cost, Commerce Permanent Secretary Yanyong Phuangrach has disclosed that the Commerce Ministry is prepared to set up an operation center, which will specifically monitor the situation of the living cost and the prices of 20 necessity goods, such as rice, vegetable oil, soap and washing detergent, among others.
The Commerce Minister will be supervising the center directly to focus on ways to relieve the burdens of the initial production cost for manufacturers and increase options for the public. Mr. Yanyong said that the current prices of food and commodity products in general are not considered inordinate.
Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary has admitted that reducing the initial cost for ready-to-eat food might be complicated; however, more officials will be assigned to procure low-priced raw materials to distribute to entrepreneurs. He explained that ready-to-eat food accounts for 16% of the people’s daily expense.
The PM will be presiding over a meeting of ministerial permanent secretaries, hosted by the Ministry of Commerce on May 11, to discuss strategy to solve the problem of high cost of living.
