Consumer prices are also determined, if less directly, by government policy. The government control of import duties and quotas largely decided the price of almost all manufactured goods. Through the State monopolies, the government decides the price of sugar, matches and cigarettes. The State-owned factories, held by the State Banks, decide the price of their products by bureaucratic expediency rather than by the economic pressures of the market. In particular, cloth and clothing were expensive during my stay. In 1950 and 1952, national shortages of petrol, tyres and spare parts limited lorry transport and put up village transport costs.
The villagers live only partly in the national money economy. In so far as they consume directly what they produce they are outside the effects of inflation and government price control. But a large and rapidly increasing part of their economy is within the national economy. In this sector, in general, they receive artificially high prices for their goods, but are forced to pay also artificially high prices for what they consume. This system has disadvantages both for them and for the national economy. But the guarantee of a stable and rewarding price for grain is an overwhelming advantage, and has provided the major stimulus to increased production.
They still supply a large part of what they consume. All cereals, milk products, meat and eggs, and some at least of the fruit and vegetables consumed are produced in the village. The villages also supply their own fuel from straw, dung and scrub,