IN order to ensure that consumers are protected and receive the best prices for commodities, the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce through its Consumer Affairs Division continue to monitor food prices on the international and local market.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Manniram Prashad stated that, monitoring of commodity prices is an essential aspect of ensuring, that consumers are not ripped off since it allows the Ministry to know when prices rise and fall internationally and consequently to work with companies to regulate their prices accordingly.
The Ministry’s staff are also tasked with advising the consumers, about the prices that should be paid for certain identified commodities. This is done through public awareness campaigns , which provides tips and guidelines through the use of print, television and radio medium.
These campaigns have proven to be very successful and beneficial to the consumers, as it has helped in regulating the prices of some major commodities namely; flour, gasoline, cooking gas and chicken.
During 2008, there was a spike in these commodities prices and the Ministry worked diligently, with the relevant associations and companies to ensure prices were made affordable.
Government took additional measures, which included subsidizing the cost of flour, to over 98 percent of bakeries in the country for a period of about four months, at a cost of approximately $100M.
To combat rising oil prices, government also zero-rated diesel and significantly reduced the tariff on gasoline, to allow for transportation costs to remain affordable.
Prashad noted, however, while he is pleased with the decrease in flour prices, reports from the Ministry’s monitoring of international prices show that the price should be reduced further.
The Minister posited, that while there is a global recession and some food prices are rising, Guyana is in a unique position to take advantage of this situation because it is the only net exporter of food in the Caribbean.
To this end, the Minister said that more people should support the “Grow More” campaign by the Ministry of Agriculture, which has already produced results, since many of the locally produced commodity prices are low.
Additionally, through the National Competitiveness Strategy (NCS), the Ministry is working to improve export production and investment opportunities. (GINA)
