Accountants ask State to cap food prices
The accountants urged the National Assembly and Treasury to employ sector-targeted tax exemptions on agriculture and energy.
Since the beginning of this year, the accountants said, the soaring cost of food and fuel has been a major driver of overall inflation.
Cost-push inflation, also known as wage-push inflation, occurs when overall prices increase (inflation) due to increases in the cost of wages and raw materials.
The government introduced price controls on fuel in 2010, with the industry regulator capping the maximum oil marketers can charge every month, but this has not helped to cushion consumers against price increases.
The government, however, did away with price controls in the 90s, although there has been a clamour for the reintroduction of the practice amid unprecedented increases in the price of basic commodities over the years.
Mr Mokua said the continued increase in the prices of basic commodities occasioned by, among other factors, volatility in international oil prices given the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, supply chain disruptions in the energy sector and increased prices of agricultural inputs poses a major threat to the economy.
