#BTEditorial – The high cost of living

Barbados has long been regarded as among the most expensive places in the world to live. It is an unenviable position to hold, but we have been led to believe that it is the result of living in an open economy, where virtually everything is imported.

Barbadians have enjoyed a reasonably high standard of living over the years, with access to relatively high quality services, including healthcare, education and other social services, free at the point of delivery. But these entitlements have been accompanied by a very high tax rate to support their provision.

Those who have the benefit of an income, contribute to the welfare of all who reside here. We have also had the privilege of access to stable utilities such as clean water, electricity, and telecommunications.

But if there is one area of concern for Barbadians from all walks of life, income brackets and educational status, is the question of food prices on the island.

When the last administration introduced the controversial National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL), there was a hue and cry over what importers insisted would cause significant price increases on most imported products.

When former Minister of Finance Christopher Sinckler increased the revenue raiser in 2017, from two per cent to 10 per cent, the tax became a rallying point against the last administration. It was the same Sinckler budget that included the two per cent tax on foreign exchange transactions, while the excise tax on gasoline went up by one-third.

Sinckler’s argument was that state revenues were falling, and if jobs in the public sector were to be maintained and social services continued, then the Government had to find the revenue from somewhere.

When the Mia Mottley administration was swept to office in 2018, one of the first things the new Minister of Finance attacked was the hugely unpopular NSRL.

Unfortunately, the euphoria over the removal of the NSRL came to naught, as the expected price reductions did not materialize for Barbadians.

Today, almost two years into a ravaging pandemic that has turned our lives into a chaotic experience, citizens are facing a most challenging time trying to meet their basic household food needs.

It is a fact that more people are choosing to establish kitchen gardens in an attempt to reduce their food expenditure. But this is a time-consuming process, and while fruits and vegetables are growing the household still needs to be fed.

The seriousness of the current state of affairs was highlighted in the findings of a recent World Food Organization (FAO) survey on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security and livelihoods in Barbados.

The international organization’s research found: “Job loss and income reductions are still very common, affecting 55 per cent of overall respondents and 88 per cent of those from the lowest income groups. Disproportionately impacted are households whose income comes from tourism and hospitality, petty trade, informal labour, or external assistance, as well as younger people.”

Even more important was the finding that 55 per cent of Barbadians surveyed experienced higher than usual food prices, with the lowest income groups more commonly reporting increases.

With lack of financial means influencing their shopping behaviour, Barbadians began turning to cheaper food products or buying smaller quantities of food.

“Food insecurity remains a concern, with a sizeable number of people cutting back on food consumption,” the report on Barbados revealed.

And so, it was not good news to be informed by the country’s main producer of livestock feeds that there will be a near 20 per cent rise in the cost of its products.

As a result, local meats, including chicken, processed meat products, and possibly some vegetable prices, are expected to rise.

To be fair to the company, it has been confronted by enormous rises in inputs such as corn and soybeans.

The price hike for animal feeds comes on the heels of record high petrol prices, with gas retailing at almost $4 per litre.

Given the comments on social media that followed the report in Barbados TODAY of feed price increase, it is evident that citizens are suffering. Between the pressure of high joblessness, price increases, the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the depressed state of economic activity and overall hardship, people are beginning to feel overwhelmed by the prolonged state of despair.

As former Minister of Labour Dr Denis Lowe termed it, the island’s misery index must be extremely high.

The clinical psychologist was quoted as saying: “Clearly the COVID-19 pandemic has now become a multifaceted biomedical, psychosocial, behavioural and legal matter that has induced very high levels of anxiety, frustration and human dysfunctions across the entire population.

“These fears, anxieties and persistent feelings of distress and uncertainty are causing individuals, families and other groups to experience heightened levels of misery in their everyday lives. Many of these individuals and other human groups are asking if or when this pandemic will go away, or if their lives will ever return to ‘normal’ again.”