HIGH PRICES REIGN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26719, 13 March 1948, Page 7

HIGH PRICES REIGN

SHOPPING IN MOSCOW ABOLITION OF RATIONING STAPLE FOODS SCARCE AND LIMITED N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent Rec. 9 p.m. LONDON. Mar. 12. The diplomatic correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says evidence reaching him from Moscow confirms the impression that shopping conditions for the bulk of the people in the Russian capital have not greatly improved as a result of the abolition of rationing. While there is a greater variety of goods in the shops, the number of staple foods is becoming scarcer and the quantities available for each consumer are so strictly limited that housewives catering foxlarge families have been badly hit. One result of the disappeai ance of rationing has been the spectacular growth of the “ free ” or legalised black market. These markets are the only places where it is possible to obtain fresh eggs, vegetables and good joints of meat and the pi’ices are much higher than in State shops. For instance. on the free market even a staple food such as potatoes costs two to three times the official price. The most severe setback, however, is the high level of prices in relation to wages, which for all practical purposes has made the abolition of rationing almost meaningless. Based on the official rate which makes the rouble equivalent roughly to lid in British money, the correspondent quotes the following examples of present food prices in Moscow (the quotation in each case being for lib weight):—Rye bread Is 3d, wheat bread 2s lid, sugar 6s 3d, butter £1 6s Bd, beef 12s 6d, potatoes 5d The controlled prices for clothing are:— A man’s non-worsted suit £2O, worsted suit £6O, shoes £l2 a pair, a woman’s woollen dress £25.

The result of these high prices, says the correspondent, is that almost every able-bodied person in Russia must go out to work, irrespective of domestic responsibilities. At present, a good average wage for a Moscow worker is 500 to 600 roubles a month, which is equivalent to about £5 14s to £6 17s a week.