Vice Minister Gi Jae: "Support for Agricultural Product Delivery Prices Expanded to 25 Items Including Carrots and Pears"

Kim Byung-hwan, Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, is delivering opening remarks at the "18th Vice Ministerial Meeting on Prices" held on the morning of the 19th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

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The government decided to strengthen efforts to stabilize prices with heightened vigilance, as fruit prices remain high and volatility in international oil prices from the Middle East is increasing.

On the morning of the 19th, Kim Byung-hwan, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, held the "18th Vice Ministers' Meeting on Price Relations" at the Government Complex Seoul to discuss price trends of major items and measures to stabilize prices.

Participants evaluated that since April, with improved weather conditions and the gradual effect of emergency support funds for price stabilization of agricultural and livestock products, overall prices of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products have been on a downward trend.

However, since fruit and some vegetables prices remain high and domestic petroleum prices are rapidly rising due to the impact of increased international oil prices caused by conflicts in the Middle East, price instability factors persist. Therefore, the government decided to further strengthen efforts to stabilize prices with vigilance.

First, for agricultural products, the number of items supported for delivery price assistance will be expanded from the existing 23 to 25 by adding carrots and pears, and for 12 items including napa cabbage, onions, tomatoes, and oriental melons, the support prices will be raised. Support will be flexibly provided according to the price and supply-demand situation of each item.

For fishery products, starting from the 22nd, the supply channels for government stockpiles such as hairtail and squid will be expanded from the existing five to eight, including small and medium-sized marts. On the same day, 200 tons of squid from distant waters will be supplied to wholesale markets to induce a reduction in wholesale prices.

Regarding processed foods, as international grain prices stabilize downward compared to the peak in 2022, the government will continue communication with the industry to encourage the spread of price reduction cases among companies.

For petroleum products, since the fuel tax reduction measure originally scheduled to end in April has been extended by two months until June, the government will monitor through the Petroleum Market Inspection Meeting and the inter-ministerial Petroleum Market Inspection Team to prevent excessive price increases taking advantage of rising international oil prices.

For manufactured goods, the government plans to focus on monitoring price trends mainly for essential daily necessities, strengthen cooperation with the distribution industry to stabilize prices, and simultaneously promote alternative products and private brand (PB) products.

Additionally, through the Agricultural and Fishery Products Distribution Structure Improvement Task Force, joint inspections by related ministries have been conducted at 36 locations including wholesale markets, Agricultural Product Processing Centers (APCs), auction sites, large marts, online malls, and private storage companies. Inspections have also been completed at 63 agricultural wholesale markets and production areas and 17 fishery locations in cooperation with local governments, aT, NongHyup, and SuHyup.

The government plans to announce the "Agricultural and Fishery Products Distribution Structure Improvement Plan" based on the results of further inspections in the future.

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