In Guatemala, the calculation of the basic food basket is a bit difficult to explain. The National Institute of Statistics uses an unclear methodology. Suddenly, they give the impression that there is one Basic Basket for the private sector, one for the academic, one for the politician and one for the investor.
Various institutions calculate the prices of the basic food basket in different regions. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food, on the one hand, makes its calculations and, on the other, the INE. In the last 10 years, everyone has their own measurements, but their figures do not coincide.
In Guatemala, for example, 34 products are included in the Basic Food Basket, which is priced at Q3,110.18. There is also an Expanded Basic Basket whose cost is Q6,910.70. It includes other products such as sugar, cheese, sausages and chicken eggs. Minimum wages are around Q3,000 for maquila workers and Q3,075 for workers in non-agricultural activities.
Let’s review the basic food baskets of the rest of the Central American countries. Let’s start with El Salvador, where the urban basket has a value of US$202.37 and the rural basket costs US$144.43. The Urban Expanded Basic Food Basket has a value of US$404.74 and the CBAR US$288.86 and has only 22 products. The minimum wage covers 42% of the cost of the basic food basket.
In Honduras, the basic food basket includes 30 products and reaches a price of L6,617.49 (Q2,074.45) for Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. The cost of this basic food basket absorbs 62% of the average salary in the country, which reaches L10,601 (Q3323.19).
