Honduras Deploys Mobile Stores to Streets to Fight ‘Speculation’
Honduras Deploys Mobile Stores to Streets to Fight Speculation
By Isabella Cota Jan 13, 2014 4:36 PM CT
The Honduran government is deploying mobile stores selling basic goods in a bid to crack down on speculation by companies in the wake of an increase in business taxes meant to narrow the countrys deficit.
The government said today that 20 mobile stores will travel through the capital, San Salvador, and the southern city of San Pedro Sula selling goods including flour, beans, rice, sugar and soap to the countrys poorest citizens. In a country with the worlds highest rate of violent crime, the mobile units will be protected by the military, the government said.
This is meant to stop and contain abuses inflicted by some businesses through their price speculation of basic goods, according to the statement.
Honduras eliminated some tax exemptions and raised duties on companies as President Porfirio Lobo seeks to narrow a budget deficit that reached 6 percent of gross domestic product last year before his successor, Juan Orlando Hernandez, takes office Jan. 27. Finance Minister Wilfredo Cerrato said Jan. 8 that some companies raised prices 50 percent to compensate for the higher taxes.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-13/honduras-deploys-mobile-stores-to-streets-to-fight-speculation-.html