Government to continue subsidising LPG

By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNvibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DESPITE the cost associated with subsidising Liquefied Propane Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas, the government has taken the decision to continue, thus providing continued relief to consumers’ pockets.

“Taking into account the need to continue to protect the poor and to control the cost of living in a time of global financial crisis, Cabinet took a decision not to remove or reduce the subsidy on LPG.”

The January 5, 2009 post-Cabinet Briefing informs that Cabinet reviewed an analysis compiled by the Ministry of Finance concerning “government’s continuing subsidy of the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).”

“Government for some time has been subsidising the price of the 100lb cylinder and the 20lb cylinder. At present, government is subsidising the price of the 100lb cylinder by $64.51, and the price of the 20lb cylinder by $13.23. At the end of 2008, the levels of subsidy had risen sharply over the previous year, 2007, when the levels of subsidy for the two cylinder sizes had been $29.79 and $5.29 respectively.”

The current price of the 100lb cylinder of LPG and the 20lb cylinder in St. Kitts is $140 and $30 respectively and in Nevis is $160 and $40 respectively.

Following review of the analysis, the decision was made that the prices “…will remain unchanged.” ~~Adz:Right~~