The French government will impose price controls on hand sanitizer to counter price-gouging, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced Wednesday.
“There are isolated cases where unacceptable prices have been charged,” he said on French TV BFM Business.
Le Maire had already warned retailers on Tuesday that hes ready to take action against price spikes, and asked French authorities to launch an investigation into exorbitant pricing practices. In some cases, bottles of hand sanitizer fetch €30 in Paris.
In related news, French President Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday that the government will take over the production of protective masks and distribute them exclusively to health care workers and French patients already infected.
All masks have now been requisitioned and can be sold only under medical prescription or to health care professionals until May 31, according to the official decree published today.
Several Paris hospitals have noted the theft of at least 8,300 masks and 1,200 bottles of hand sanitizer, while some 2,000 surgical masks have reportedly gone missing at a Marseille hospital, according to
