The government has widened the list of essential commodities sold at the lowest market prices from 26 items to 80, Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed said on the PSM forum Ahaa.
The original list covered staples such as rice, sugar and flour, ten fruits, ten vegetables, lentils, eggs and potatoes. The new list expands the fruit and vegetable groups to 20 varieties each and adds 37 items for infants and older people and three non-food essentials. The figures cited add up to 86, and the minister did not give the full breakdown, so the final count is unclear.
The State Trading Organisation supplies the goods at wholesale rates to Malé and four other cities, with agents in Addu, Fuvahmulah, Thinadhoo and Kulhudhuffushi. The hardest part, Saeed said, is islands with fewer than 3,000 residents, and arrangements are being finalised to give most of them direct access.
