THE INCOMING Panama Government is not wasting time in implementing one of its campaign promises – food price controls. They will be introduced   by decree on Tuesday July 1.

Sirloin steak, rib steaks, ground beef, shanks, breast, pork chops, chicken, tuna, sausage, high quality rice, macaroni, bread, onion, yam, potato, domestic tomato, cassava, beans and lentils, are some of the 22 goods whose prices will be controlled by the State, reports Panama America.

"'We know the average purchase price of food last year and we are clear about these 22 products because we studied them one by one ... For the first time Panama will go back to an emergency price control scheme and 22 products in the basic food basket will come under price regulation - margin control in order to avoid speculation in staple products', said President-elect Juan Carlos Varela. "

"Pedro Meilan, Manager at the Authority for Consumer and Defence of Competition (ACODECO), stressed that price controls can be applied through price regulation or by a price freeze. 'What has to be determined is whether to freeze the price or the margin, meaning that it will not be the case that there will be no increase over a certain point and it will stay that way forever, or whether to regulate it, which means it will be revised from time to time in order to see if it should be increased or lowered' he said."