THE cost of living in Guyana, as in any other country in the world, is determined by several factors, both endogenous and exogenous. Among the endogenous factors are imported inflation, higher commodity prices on the world market as a result of disruption in supply chains, wars, conflicts, climate change, among others.
No country in the world has absolute control over the rate of inflation. The government can implement measures aimed at controlling inflation and, as in our case, take policy measures to mitigate the impact of inflation.

As noted by Vice-President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo in a recent press conference, inflation in Guyana over the past few years has been relatively stable, thanks to many policy interventions by the PPP/C administration.
According to Dr. Jagdeo, the PPP/C administration has implemented many initiatives to absorb the impact of rising food prices. Among these are annual absorption of fuel and water charges and fuel subsidisation for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Incorporated.

This, along with other budget support measures has impacted favourably on the purchasing power of consumers.
Some opposition elements opportunistically seek to convey the impression that the cost of living in Guyana is racing ahead of the spending power of consumers. In so doing, they selectively identify certain food items that have fluctuating market prices due to changing weather patterns. It is a fact that several locally produced agricultural produce are seasonal and can fetch higher than normal market prices during periods of peak demand and declining supply.

The fact, however, is that the overall price level is significantly lower than that of the rate of inflation which in effect means that for the average consumer, the basket of goods and services continues to get bigger and bigger. Real wages continue to increase under the PPP/C administration due largely to a menu of policy interventions which have impacted positively the lives of every Guyanese.

In all of this, our pensioners and the more vulnerable in our society are not being overlooked. Our pensioners have benefitted from significant increases in old-age pensions, which along with water and electricity subsidies have impacted positively on their quality of life.
However, it is the overall impact of the several initiatives aimed at enhancing the working and living conditions of the Guyanese people as a whole that has been the defining characteristic of the PPP/C administration.

This is in sharp contrast to what transpired under the previous PNC administrations when there were galloping inflation rates and currency devaluations to a point where the Guyana dollar was not worth the paper on which it was printed!
Guyanese still remember the days under the PNC regime when real wages lagged significantly behind money wages. The average Guyanese was unable to keep up with the cost of living due to declining real wages and high inflation rates.
The PPP/C administration deserves full credit for being able to keep the rate of inflation in check even in the face of accelerated growth and development.