Cutting VAT a necessary sacrifice, PM says

Cutting the VAT from a number of items for the sake of Barbadians is a big sacrifice but a necessary one nonetheless, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said on Saturday.

While adding that it is a move locals should appreciate, Mottley hailed those from the private sector who are playing their role in mitigating the financial impact of soaring global inflation.

She was speaking during a Private sector and Government signing of the Compact Agreement at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

“I want to salute the poultry sector. The poultry sector is making this commitment and the pork sector at a time when they have seen prices increased for feed,” she said.

While reminding that her Government subsidised feed to the tune of $4 million in the last six months, Mottley said that the feed factories have also made their own adjustments.

“We have only just started and everyone is going to be required to play their role through these difficult times. I think that we have said it enough to let you know that with rough seas you may not do fancy strokes but the thing is to keep your head above water,” she said.

“Hard times are not going to be all the time, so let’s work together to hold each other up and see off this.”

Mottley also announced that the BOSS bond, which was initially for the public sector, will now be extended to the BOSS Plus bond for every citizen.

“When we introduced the BOSS bonds we made it very clear that it would not be subject to any form of restructuring — we did very well with those bonds. After consideration we have agreed that we will launch in the next few weeks, BOSS Plus, but BOSS plus will not just be public servants but all Barbadians or all people living in this country.”

Head of the Barbados Private Sector Association Trisha Tannis made it clear that this initiative by the private sector is not new but one taken with all Barbadians in mind.

“We just want want to remind the country that this is not necessarily strange to the governing of the tripartite body and certainly we have been exercising that social compact, consistently and of note is what we had to do during the pandemic — it wasn’t formalised but of a similar nature,” she explained.

Tannis assured the country that the signing is not “simply a piece of paper” but a contract “consistent with the ethos of what the private sector has proven and is willing to do.”

She said while it was impossible to control every retailer on the island the compact represented at least 70 per cent of the market share.

Member of Parliament for St George North and General Secretary of the Barbados Workers Union (BWU) Toni Moore, who represented the labour movement, spoke proudly of the compact, which she said represents the value of partnership seen in times of hardship.

“I’m happy this morning that although we’ve heard the comments that there is more that could be done, I think that there is a certain level of satisfaction that we can feel that enough has been done so far to cushion the reality that confronts the most vulnerable among us,” she assured. (MR)