The National Inspection of Economic Activities (INAE) says it is working to ensure that there is no price speculation during the festive season.

To this end, INAE says it has been meeting with the various private sector associations at national level in order to educate and sensitize the business community to maintain prices so that there is no stock break.

"As you can imagine, this is not an easy task because we have to ensure that there is no price speculation, no stock-outs and that citizens can buy products, especially those in the basic food basket, in good time and at a price that is not speculated on," said Maria Rita Freitas, INAE's inspector general.

The inspector general acknowledged that there was a tendency for the price of some products to rise, something she said was justified by the price at which economic agents bought the product.

Even so, said Freita, "if we take the margins defined by the government and the prices declared by the economic agents, we do the calculations and there has been no price speculation, but there has been a rise, depending on the purchase price, and entrepreneurs are forced to increase the selling price of the product".

In addition to eggs and chicken, potatoes, onions and tomatoes are also on the list of most pressured products, according to the INAE Inspector General.

For the government and the private sector, INAE leaves recommendations: "We call for wages to be paid on time, so that consumers can buy products on time, thus avoiding price speculation and hoarding."

Maria Rita Freitas was speaking a few days ago in Maputo as part of the launch of "Operation Hope - Festive Season 2023/2024", organized by the CTA and partners..