The Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories began a visit to French Polynesia last Wednesday, accompanied among others by the Minister of Sports and the Olympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, to visit the Teahupoo site in Tahiti, which will host next July the surfing events of the Paris-2024 Olympics.
As part of this trip, Gérald Darmanin announced that the government was going to launch a mission aimed at identifying and fighting against economic monopolies in the overseas territories, sources of very high prices: “I will launch a mission as soon as I return to Paris with Philippe Vigier, Minister of Overseas, to take stock of the monopolies”, starting with French Polynesia. Last July, the parliamentary commission of inquiry on the cost of living in the overseas territories returned its report to the State, intimating it to initiate a plan of "economic and social shock". The latest data available from INSEE dating from 2015 already highlighted price differences across all products, of nearly 7% in Mayotte and Réunion, and more than 12% in Martinique and Guadeloupe. Regarding food products, the price difference for the hexagonal consumption basket is more than 36% in Reunion and 48% in Martinique. Some everyday products sometimes go up to +50%. Notwithstanding the fact that prices have increased less in the overseas territories than in mainland France (+6,3% between February 2022 and February 2023), the overseas territories are the first victims of inflation: 3,7% in Guyana , 4,2% in Réunion, 4,4% in Martinique, 4,8% in Guadeloupe and 5,9% in Mayotte. As a reminder, the average income overseas is lower than in mainland France. The high cost of living in the overseas territories is not a new subject for the government, even if it affects the inhabitants of overseas territories on a daily basis. In parallel with this mission, Gérald Darmanin also mentioned the fight against global warming and the economic development of the island. During his visit to Réunion in July 2022, the Minister of the Interior announced that he was launching a major working session with the aim of finding agreements to very significantly reduce the cost of living in Réunion and in all overseas territories. _VX
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The State should set an example by reviewing the prices of postal items which have become unaffordable