Gov’t ministries examining ways to shield Barbadians from rising prices

With the cost of living in Barbados at an all-time high, Prime Minister Mia Mottley tonight assured that the government would be exploring all options to help shield Barbadians from rising prices.

Speaking during the launch of the 2022 Agrofest at Queen’s Park, Mottley admitted that Barbadians were facing increased costs that were “unsustainable and unacceptable”.

She said efforts were now underway to find mechanisms that can be used to help mitigate the high costs.

Barbados has been ranked as one of the most expensive places to live in the world and currently, with motorists paying $4.38 per litre, its fuel prices are also among the highest in the world.

“I have said that the world is at war.

It is at war with COVID; it is at war with climate and regrettably it is at war with war and if we in this region don’t work together to turn it around we will not get anywhere.

“In Barbados our own people are facing the ravages of what it is to see the cost of living increase in ways that we did not expect five years ago or three years ago. Because of the circumstances that I just referred to we are seeing prices rise at a rate that is really unsustainable and unacceptable,” Mottley stated.

“I’ve asked the different ministries to start working yet again with the different players to see how we can contain these prices and how we can shield people where we cannot contain prices. Indeed this is an effort that is being undertaken globally and one only needs to look at what happened in the United Kingdom with the Chancellor of the Exchequer up to yesterday to understand that this is not a problem that is unique to the Caribbean region.”

On Thursday, Britain’s chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the country’s most vulnerable households would benefit from a £650 one-time support payment.

He also indicated that there would be a windfall tax on gas and oil giants and extra payments are to be made to pensioners to help them cope with the rising cost of living. randybennett@barbadostoday.bb