“It [price caps] is not something that is done lightly or considered lightly. I very much hope that we are not in a position of going anywhere near them. We are reminding them [attendees at the meeting] of the powers the Government has. This isn’t about threats. This isn’t about implementing something without real consideration,” he said,
We fully expect to see prices coming down. We can get prices down, particularly on the staple necessary goods. The private sector has to step up to the plate on this.” “Grocery inflation is running at about 16.3 per cent. That’s way ahead of general inflation which peaked at 9 per cent, has come down to about 7 per cent [and] will go down to about four and half per cent.
“We certainly received a number of reports [of price gouging]. Some of them still have to be verified. But we will be presenting them [at the meeting]. There is evidence across the EU of inflation having a very serious impact on the grocery shop and we are seeing in other countries commitments from the grocery sector to bringing down the price.