MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Food basket: Punta Arenas 34% dearer than Santiago

The basic family food basket in Punta Arenas was last year among the three dearest in Chile, 34,5% above Santiago, according to a paper from the Economic and Financial Investigations Institute from the Andrés Bello University, based on information from the Chilean Statistics Institute.

The paper involves 95 food products purchasable in the supermarkets of the country's 25 main cities.

Vegetables and meats are the items which present the greatest price gaps with differences of up to 200%. This obviously is subject to the proximity or distance from farmland, but anyhow half of the 95 products prices have a maximum-minimum difference averaging 50%.

According to the report in some items price differences between Punta Arenas and Santiago are really significant: tomatoes cost 404% more than in the capital; marrow, squash and sweet potato 356%; garlic, onions and carrots, 349%, 327% and 158%.

This means basically that on average for every 1,052 Chilean pesos spent in Santiago for the same food items, in Punta Arenas the bill reaches 1,348 Chilean pesos.

Bernardo Troncoso the regional representative of the Chilean Ministry of Economy admitted the big price differences but also recalled that Magallanes is an "extreme region" and the government has special legislation with incentives for investment and employment in the area.

"This is done with the purpose of improving life quality and increasing competitiveness for those industries establishing in Magallanes", said Mr. Troncoso who added we must not forget "we are 160,000 Chilean pesos (approximately 275 US dollars) away by air from Santiago; 2,200 kilometres by land and sea freight to the region is dearer that overseas, mainly because of the small cargo volumes".

Mr. Troncoso also pointed out that supermarket sales in Punta Arenas increased 2,1% in 2004 over 2003, with an exceptional December (plus 12,3%) and January (plus 22,8%).