Opposition, gov’t trade plans to tackle increased cost of living

Last Updated on Friday, 19 July 2024, 22:14 by Writer

The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) on Friday separately weighed in on the cost of living, even as the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) said efforts were being made to address the problem which is not confined to Guyana only.

Promising again to increase salaries by more than 50 percent and increase the income tax threshold from GY$100,000 to GY$150,000 if elected in the late 2025 general and regional elections, PNCR Leader Aubrey Norton was confident that those intended measures would not spike inflation because a new PNCR-led coalition administration would take steps to increase local food production, distribute two hot meals to schoolchildren per day and provide a network of school transportation. “If you have the concomitant production and productivity, there will be goods and services to absorb the money,” said Mr Norton. He added that schoolchildren would see the transparent school-feeding programme as an incentive to attend school.

He also promised that his administration would award large grants to farmers to help reduce the cost of equipment, a fuel voucher system to reduce the cost of fuel being used to transport produce from farms to markets. He said government’s removal of fuel taxes had not reduced the cost of transportation because only a few fuel importers were benefitting. “If there is a register of the people, who are actually carrying the farm produce to the market and it is monitored, what will happen is the cost of getting it to the market will be less and the price at the marketplace will be less,” the PNCR leader said.

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday restated that government was subsidising fuel purchases for the state-owned Guyana Power and Light Inc and the electricity bill for the Guyana Water Inc to avoid those utilities from paying steep international prices for electricity generation fuels and passing on the real cost to consumers. Government plans to seek parliamentary approval for another US$60 million to subsidise GPL’s fuel import bill. He also said government was increasing food production, even shipping surplus cassava from Region Three (West Demerara-Essequibo Islands) to Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo) where there was a recent shortage.

AFC’s finance spokeswoman, Juretha Fernandes referred to official figures from the Guyana Bureau of Statistics to show that food price inflation from May 2023 to May 2024 was 7.4 percent, with food prices increasing by 1.5 percent from April to May this year. She said a breakdown by the Statistics Bureau revealed that there were price increases for vegetables and vegetable products by 5.6 percent; fruits and fruit products, 4.6 percent; condiments and spices, 4.2 percent; sugar, honey and related products, 1.8 percent; fish, meat and eggs, 0.3 percent; oils and fats excluding butter, 0.1 percent, and non-alcoholic beverages, 0.1 percent. “With increases in the prices of vegetables and fruits, the leading contributors 0f inflation on food, a direct correlation can be made as to the decrease in standard of living of ordinary Guyanese. It is also important to note that the consumer price index, the data being referred to here today, only captures urban data and as such the plight of Guyanese living in rural areas is not even being recorded. Rural areas continue to suffer the most as inflation in food prices, coupled with inflation in transportation, which was recorded at 0.2 percent between April to May of 2024, resulted in exorbitant prices for food items in rural areas,” she said.

Mr Jagdeo admitted that the cost of food had increased but gave no figures. He said the Guyana government had embarked on an “interventionist” policy to immunise Guyanese from the major effects of global inflation. They include increased disposable income, employment of about 60,000 persons and increasing food production through support with fertilisers and pesticides to farmers.

Noting that the large and sophisticated economy of the United States was also grappling with an increase in the cost of living. “No country in the world is immune from it. APNU would like you think that they have a policy that will keep you immune from it. They don’t have no policy. They just drift in the wind. In fact, it will be worse,” he said.