Govt to put cap on fuel tax if oil prices continue to increase

Government will be putting a cap on the tax charged on the cost of fuel if oil prices continue to increase.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley said during a press conference today that such a move will be necessary to avoid Barbadians feeling the pinch of the rise in oil prices on the international market.

However, Mottley, who indicated that she sympathized with, and understands those who are calling for a reduction in fuel tax, noted that Barbadians must understand that the public’s purse is currently under severe pressure. She is asking Barbadians to hold strain at this time.

“I feel your pain, we will cap if oil prices continue to go up but ah begging you to understand our position too,” Mottley said.

“We ain’t got no money tree and the bottom line is we still paying for people to go to university. We still covering everybody’s education from pre-primary right to tertiary. We are covering all the access at the hospital and polyclinics and on top of that we covering everything with respect to COVID, as well as the testing.

“We have said that we must start to charge for tests at the airport for anybody travelling in or out, but the Government will continue to pay for test for Bajans within the country, even for the ones who going to the fete,” she added.

The Prime Minister said that the social partnership will be looking at ways to ease the burden of cost of living on Barbadians. She said a decision has been made to provide a subsidy of two million dollars to the poultry sector to keep the price of chicken down for as long as possible.

Nevertheless, Mottley warned that while Government will do all that is possible at a policy level, at some point, additional costs for items will be transferred to consumers, as the prices of imported commodities continue to rise on the international market, in addition to an increase in shipping prices.

“We have not ruled out price controls. If necessary, we are prepared to go there. But we also want persons who are dealing with the importation of goods in this country to recognize that they have a responsibility.

“And if you have import companies that are either substantively or wholly controlled by the importer then you got to bring that to the table and let we get some transparency around here to ensure that we are not transferring pricing that is artificially building up because you have two or three importers that are related to the final importer with respect to the goods that are being imported.

“So this is not a straightforward issue but the Government is very much aware of it, very much sensitive to your plight, but also will say to you that yes there will be some level of price increases because we don’t produce everything we need,” she said. (AH)