Tunisia Food Prices Jump Over 100% Since 2010 as Dinar Loses Half Its Value

1 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Sep 1

Tomatoes, chicken and cooking oil in Tunisia now cost 113% to 129% more than in 2010, while beef has climbed 290% to 52.5 dinars a kilogram.
The surge tracks a dinar that has weakened from 1.47 per dollar in 2010 to 2.93 today, raising the local cost of imported food in a country that buys much of its supply abroad.
Subsidies have softened only part of the shock: rice is up 10%, but unsubsidised items such as carrots and potatoes have soared 428% and 268%, creating a two-tier food basket.
Households say the squeeze now extends beyond groceries to school supplies, transport and medicine, with some families buying second-hand books and clothes and scaling back holiday spending.
The persistence of the crisis nearly 16 years after the 2010 uprising underscores how the grievances that helped topple Tunisia's former government remain unresolved.