The island’s two main private sector organisations are open to discussions about extending the Social Compact under which Barbadians are paying reduced prices for select items.
With the compact set to expire on January 31, 2023, chairman of the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) Trisha Tannis and president of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Anthony Branker, said they were willing to sit down with the Government to discuss the future of the compact.
However, Tannis reported that some businesses had recorded some losses as a result of the measure and they would have to determine whether they could afford to maintain prices at the current level.
“I can’t speak for all businesses. We do know that it came at significant sacrifice to them. It is not even necessarily an issue or a matter of if the Government is going to extend it. It is a matter where all parties have to come back to the table to see if any of the parties can extend it,” she told Barbados TODAY.
“You would know that it has come at significant costs to the Government, it has come at significant costs to the private sector.”
The Social Compact signed between the private sector and the Government in July reduced prices on 47 items for a six-month period.
Additionally, Value Added Tax (VAT) was taken off a number of items and duty removed from some citrus items. Prime Minister Mia Mottley subsequently announced that the Government would cap prices on gasoline and diesel, from August 19, 2022, to January 31, 2023, as part of efforts to shield Barbadians from the rising cost of fuel.
During a press conference on Monday, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Ryan Straughn said the Government would have to go back to the table to determine whether the compact could be extended.
“We are currently reviewing the circumstances to determine whether or not those measures will continue past January 31 in order to make sure that we can protect Barbadians as best as we can,” he said at the time.
In separate interviews with Barbados TODAY, Tannis and Branker indicated their willingness to go back to the negotiation table.
“The question is whether all parties can actually extend it, but it would be very difficult to say at this point,” the BPSA head said. “I certainly would not want to speak on behalf of the entities that have had to bear the brunt of the adjustments and I think we need to let the negotiations take their full course.”
Branker said the BCCI would be going into the negotiations “with an open mind to see what Government asks us for”.
“As it stands we acknowledge that it is a process, it is a negotiation . . . . We would obviously meet before we get to the table to understand what the position is of the members in that specific sector. But the truth is that we are socially responsible at the same time and we understand how things are for Barbadians,” he said.
“So, therefore, we have to be mindful that the decisions that we make when we sit at the table could have far-reaching implications for our social wellbeing as well, so we are going into it understanding as well that it is more than just about the pricing of goods,” Branker noted.
Barbados’ largest public sector trade union, the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) said it hoped the initiative would be extended to help workers navigate the high cost of living on the island.
However, the union’s acting general secretary Wayne Walrond told Barbados TODAY that while he was in favour of any short-term measure to ease workers, a salary increase was still the union’s main focus.
“I welcome any measure that brings some form of relief to the workers in terms of moving their spending power. Anything that gives ease to the workers in terms of cost of living is welcomed.
“But one of the fundamental things the union is looking at is the long-term substantial move to have a salary adjustment increase for workers to deal with this spiralling cost of living. That is still a fundamental aspect of the whole equation,” Walrond said.
