Soaring food prices hitting Macedonians hard

Reports from Macedonia (Balkan Insight) say that prices of basic consumer products (e.g. bread, milk, vegetables and fruit) are continuously climbing. This is no surprise; the UN FAO Price Index is at its highest since it began back in 1990. However, with prices of sugar, oils & fats at record levels, the impact in Macedonia could be worse than that in many other countries.
The latest Gallup Balkan Monitor (GBM) data showed that a quarter (24%) of Macedonians had experienced times in the last 12 months when they could not afford to buy food for themselves and family. Across the Balkans, only Albania and Kosovo (27% and 29%, respectively) had worse figures. Furthermore, just under three-quarters (72%) of Macedonians said they could only manage on their household’s income with “difficulty” or with “great difficulty”. Macedonia, together with Serbia, has continuously had more people in this position since the GBM started polling in 2006.
This constant struggle to survive is impacting the way Macedonians feel about their lives in general. On a scale of 0 to10, Macedonians gave their lives a score of 4.2 – the lowest in the region. The 2010 score was 0.3 points down from that in 2006. Only the Bosnian Federation has seen a steeper drop in life satisfaction in this time: from 5.1 in 2006 to 4.7 in 2010 (still 0.5 points higher than Macedonia).
The government has said it will consider selling its reserves of food and other goods if food prices continue to climb and increase social unrest. This might work for a period of time; the government does appear to inspire confidence. In the recent GBM poll, 39% felt that the Macedonian government was doing a “good” or “excellent” job. Only Montenegro with 47% had better figures in the region.