Cost of living could have been higher says Finance Minister
By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts –THE cost of living for the people of St. Kitts and Nevis could have been considerably higher had it not been for measures taken and decisions made by the government over the past couple of years.
These were the sentiments of Finance Minister, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris expressed during a press conference at the Ministry of Finance Conference Room on Monday, December 8.
The conference was held to discuss the impact of the financial and economic fallout on the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Dr. Harris informed that since 2007 the government “has been waging a veritable war against inflation/high cost of living” by employing a number of measures which ultimately led to a decrease in inflation between 2006 and 2008.
In highlighting some of the measures taken by the government to stem the rising cost of living, Dr. Harris made mention of the Price Control Order No. 41 and the Consumption Tax Order No. 11 of 2008. ~~Adz:Right~~
“The Price Control Order regulated the mark-up on of selected food, pharmaceuticals, baby products and pampers for senior citizens. Under Price Control Order – items were regulated. The Consumption Tax Order No.11 of 2008 brought further relief by waiving consumption tax and duty on over 12 items including tomatoes, canned tuna, vegetable oil, sardines, cheese, pasta products, baby food, diapers, canned beef, margarine and chicken parts. On these goods, with a CIF value up to October of EC $8.8 million, government waived EC $1.7 million of revenue to ensure our vulnerable groups could still have a decent standard of living.”
The subsidising of 20-pound and 100-pound liquid propane gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, the granting of concessions to “contain the price of bread” and the capping of the fuel surcharge at 50 percent are some of the other measures mentioned by the Finance Minister.
“All of these initiatives and more were to moderate then reduce the price of goods. While the statistics reveal significant success, we will not rest on our laurels…Because we cared we did not rest on our laurels. In November we struck another blow against poverty and indecent wages by raising the minimum wage a whopping 28 percent from $250 per week to $320. We went further to exempt all of that increase from the payment of the three percent Social Services Levy.”
“We certainly are a caring government,” he added and and noted that the efforts of the government have yielded fruit with a reduction in the rate of inflation.
“Inflation in 2006 was put at 8.5 percent. I am pleased to report that for 2008 inflation has reduced to 4.5 percent. This is a significant reduction in prices recorded across a wide range of goods.”
