The price of a basket of essential goods of a set of 41 food products covered by “zero VAT” has become almost 6% cheaper since the measure came into force, now costing 130.63 euros, according to calculations by the Portuguese Association for Consumer Defense (DECO).

At issue is the monitoring of 41 of the 46 foods – which include turkey, chicken, horse mackerel, hake, onion, potato, carrot, banana, apple, orange, rice, spaghetti, sugar, milk, cheese or butter –, which since 18 of April are now exempt from VAT, following the tripartite agreement between the Government, distribution and production. If on April 17 this basket cost 138.77 euros, this week it cost 130.63 euros, becoming 8.14 euros cheaper (a drop of 5.87%).

With regard to the products that most fell in price since the entry into force, salted butter, whole chicken and Flemish cheese lead the podium, with drops of 3%. This is followed by a 2% drop in the price of golden apples and 1% in broccoli and carolino rice.

On the other hand, in this same period, the biggest rise was recorded in liquid yogurt, whose price soared by 12%, followed by tuna in vegetable oil (5%), spiral pasta (4%) and sliced bread without crust (3%).