The Jamaica Gleaner News website today is reporting that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and his Labour Party Government will soon be announcing measures aimed at bringing relief to consumers suffering under the weight of rising cost of basic items. At the last Caribbean Community meeting in The Bahamas, a decision was taken for the suspension of the Common External Tariff from several food items. PM Skerrit said that these new measure will complement the regional approach.
I stand corrected; but wasn’t that the same song the labour party was singing when the Vat Tax was implemented a few years ago. It was said that the prices on basis food items (i.e. milk, rice, sugar, etc) will go down. Yet to this date, consumers are still witnessing steady a price increase. How does a 2lb bag of powder-milk go from EC$3.50 to EC$ 7.00 on supermarket shelves, when the import duty on powder milk is less than 5 percent? Can someone tell me.
It just goes to show that there is no price control in Dominica. Let’s take for example - If the Common External Tariff is removed on certain foods items. What is going to stop the vendors who sell these food items from increasing their prices? And yet again the burden falls on the consumer – who haven’t receive a salary increase in years.
Do you think there is a need for price control in Dominica? Share your opinions in the comments.
Photo via BBC Caribbean
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