DILI, 23 july 2022 (TATOLI) – The price of cooking oil continued to rise in the country due to the current situation of the global supply chains, revealed Pascoal Suri Mali, the General Manager of the Foo Hau Kiun (FHK).
FHK is one of the largest importers of goods in Timor-Leste, with having 12 biggest stores in the country – Lita Store, Leader Mart, Leader Hypermarket, Lisun Timor, Lisun Ralo Brilihante, Lita Cold, Auto Timor-Leste, Central Hardware, Cement Timor Trading, Liang Timor, Lisun Export and Import and Li Britadeira.
“Currently the prices of all goods remain the same as they were in the past months, except for the cooking oil. It’s because of the current situation of the global supply chain,” Mali told TATOLI at his office, on Thursday.
He said there are three types of cooking oil available at all of the 12 stores: “The price of the 600 ml Sawit Gading is US$1.30, 2-liter Stela Super is US$5 and 5-liter Stela Super is US$12.
“The prices of other goods remained the same. For instance, the price of the 20kg Folson Rice is US$17, 15 kg of Furak Liu Rice is US$12, etc,” he said.
FHK employs more than 3.000 workers and every employee earns US$115, the minimum wage which was set by the government.
“We know that the government had decided to increase the minimum wage from US$115 to US$135. We will apply it for our employees, but we also increase the prices of the goods to cover the salaries of these workers,” he said.
Meanwhile, the manager of the Perisos company, Filomena Lay said that prices of the cooking have also increased recently at their store: “A box of 250ml Bintang is US$21, a box of 5-liter Enaak is US$36, a box of 5-liter Enaan is US$22, a box of 5-litter Globus is $36, a box of 620ml Gostu Loos is US$31 and a box of 5-liter Sania is US$36.
“Last month the price of the Gostu Loos cooking oil was skyrocketing but now it’s plummeting,” she said.
He said the prices of the rice sold at Perisos remained the same – 20kg of Rice Vitória cost US$10.70, 25kg of the same rice cost US$13.50 and 30 kg cost US$16.25.
Jorunalist: Arminda Fonseca
Editor: Julia Chatarina/Nelia B
Translation: Filomeno Martins