The economic crisis is having positive fallout for consumers. Bakeries recently reduced their prices by 10 percent following the drop in the cost of wheat, but that is only the beginning of the good news for shoppers.
Tuesday night, the Supersol and Blue Square supermarket chains announced an immediate 15-25 percent cut in prices on food staples, including flour, sugar and milk. In addition, the plunging price of crude oil will lead to the third straight cut in the price at the pump next Monday.
Supersol official Efi Rosenhaus said that the company made the decision to cut prices "in light of the current economic situation …and to reduce prices on basic goods for an indefinite period of time." He explained that it chose to reduce the cost of items that are used by virtually every family.
The price of commodities on the world market is falling, but one small grocery market manager said that he has not yet seen any changes in wholesale prices. "The large supermarkets are acting out of their own interests and not that of the public," he said. "They want to attract customers so they will buy other items that have not been reduced."
Other supermarket chains are expected to follow the lead of Supersol and Blue Square.
The new prices announced by Supersol and Blue Square follow, with four shekels worth almost one dollar and a kilo the same as 2.2 pounds.
Flour: 3.99 shekels a kilo.
Sugar: 2.99 shekels a kilo.
Rice: 7.99 shekels a kilo
Eggs: 9.99 shekels a dozen
Standard bread: 4.27 shekels a loaf
Milk: 3.99 a liter
Spaghetti: 4 shekels a package
Fish: 15 shekels a kilo
The size of the drop depends on gasoline prices, which depends on the shekel-dollar rate and the price of crude oil, through Friday. Current calculations indicate that the cost of a liter of gasoline will fall by 30 agorot, slightly more than six cents. The new price will be around 5.20 shekels ($1.33) a liter, approximately 30 percent less than the NIS 7 per liter price last July.
However, if Wednesday's sharp decline in the shekel-dollar rate remains below NIS 3.90, and if the price of crude does not go up in the next two days, the price at the pump will fall even further.
The declining prices are expected to lead to an inflation rate of zero or even below zero.