New six-month compact announced

Barbadians will continue to get an ease in prices on 47 items for the next six months as outlined in the new prices social compact announced on Thursday.

Cabinet is expected to sign off on the deal in another week. Senior Minister for Coordinating the Productive Sectors, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kerrie Symmonds, announced this morning that Government would again remove the 17.5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) from the items while pork producers have agreed to a mark-up of only 10 per cent. In some cases, customs duties will be removed from some items.

However, instead of the previous 12 to 15 per cent markup in the first compact, distributors and manufacturers have agreed to a markup range of between 15 per cent to 18 per cent  on dry goods and up to 20 per cent on cold storage products as listed in the basket of goods.

Read the full story in Thursday’s E-paper