Garzón says that it is "unbelievable" that companies do not moderate the price of food while small businesses do

He criticizes that the PP's proposal to lower VAT on basic foods "has very short legs": "There is almost no capacity to improve"

MADRID, 30 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of Consumption, Alberto Garzón, has assured that it is "implausible" to believe that the large food distributors "cannot moderate prices" while there are small businesses that "have frozen more than 100 foods".

"How is it possible that we believe that large companies cannot do it," asked the Minister of Consumption in an interview this Friday on RTVE's 24 Hours Channel, collected by Europa Press.

In this sense, he has warned that families "are losing purchasing power" because "prices rise faster than wages rise", so "it is normal for there to be a reduction in consumption".

To do this, the minister recalled that the Government has made a strategy "to moderate these prices, with companies that can do it, large distributors that have made profits." Thus, he has highlighted that some distributors "have done it and others have opposed it", something that he considers "unbelievable".

In reference to the Popular Party's proposal to reduce VAT on basic foods, Garzón has criticized that this initiative "has very short legs" because most staple foods "have super-reduced VAT." "Therefore, VAT is practically non-existent and there is almost no capacity to improve the situation there," he specified.

For the head of Consumption, the measure of the popular "instead of moderating business profits, what it does is damage the tax system", so there will be "less money for health or education."

"What's the use of lowering food a few cents if I can't access healthcare or education later?" Garzón questioned, while ruling that "those are the policies of the right and of some distributors who share that ideology ".

Regarding the possibility of imposing a basic shopping basket on distributors, Garzón, although he has stated that they are not "in that phase but in that of telling companies that they have to moderate profits", explained that it is a debate "that is in the United Kingdom" and that they are measures "that were put in place in many countries after World War II and that were maintained".

The person in charge of Consumption has also talked about the Customer Service Law, which is in parliamentary process and that will allow "a person and not a robot to serve you".

"It is a law approved in the Government but it is in Parliament, where the right-wing opposition is blocking it, our objective is to unblock it as soon as possible. This law implies that companies have to make an investment to satisfy the consumer", he concluded. Waiter.