By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Several fruit vendors in Bacolod City reported poor sales last month, with some of them even commenting that it was the worst in years.

According to the vendors, from December 24 to 25 in previous years, sales should have gone up and they are earning at least P10,000 to as high as P30,000 a day.

However, this year, they are struggling to even earn at least P1,000 to P2,000 every day.

In a report released by ABS-CBN News, Frank Carbon, head of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the reason for the low sales among fruit vendors may be due to austerity measures.

“When we say austerity, all our money, 60 to 70 percent, is on food and other essentials,” Carbon said in an interview with ABS-CBN News.

Carbon explained that some of the workers have just returned to work following two years of restrictions brought by the pandemic and further pointed out that people have concentrated their earnings on buying food and other essentials and it is likely to continue until at least the second half of 2023.

He added that the economy should start recovering fully around the third quarter of this year./DGB, WDJ