Prime Minister Announces A series of Measures to Help Families

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has announced a series of measures aimed at reducing the cost of living and helping families ride out what she admits is a very difficult period due to rising international fuel and commodity prices.

Miss Mottley said these announcements made; after today’s meeting of Cabinet, follow a series of meetings with the social partners over the past several days, especially the supermarkets and distributors.

They include continuing to provide school meals for children throughout the summer holidays and a series of initiatives to reduce food and electricity costs.

“We are now about to go into the summer vacation. The Ministry of Education, Technical and Vocational Training, recognizes the critical role played by the school meals department in these challenging times and that they must continue to provide lunches for our children. Therefore, throughout the summer holiday. Two; The Ministry of Finance will also offer relief for our householders’ electricity bills by ensuring that we reduce the value-added tax from 17.5% to 7.5% for the electricity charged up for the first 250-kilowatt hours of everyone’s residential electricity bill. Three; the Ministry of Finance to the Customs and Excise department will expand a list of essential food items which I will announce shortly on which no VAT will be charged and a few on which no duties will be charged. Fourthly, We have also concluded the compact that they will go into in detail shortly that will be signed on Saturday morning with the private sector that will lead to the reduction of prices on 45 key items for a period of six months from the 21st of July of this year, next Thursday, to the 31st of January 2022.”

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The Prime Minister says an agreement will be signed with the business sector on Saturday.

“Under the compact worked out yesterday, which will be signed on Saturday morning by the government, the members of the business community and we will invite the labor movement to witness it. The following additional relief measures will be implemented from July 21st and run until January 31st of this year. As I indicated supermarkets have agreed as well as wholesalers and distributors combined and farmers all to review their markups and for these 44 items have agreed for the most part with the exception of two or three to leave the markups no higher than between 12% to 15% to ensure that every Barbadian household, but in particular the vulnerable can benefit from these items.”

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Miss Mottley explained some of the reductions on key grocery items such as chicken.

“For example, Amir’s chicken, halal Chicken Chop mix will go from $19.99 per kilogram to $15.29 per kilogram a saving of $4.70 or 24%. Chickmont whole chicken will go from $14.05 per kilogram to $11.58 per kilogram, $4.70 a 24% reduction, and that would mean for example, that a whole chicken which is typically one and a half kilograms would go from about $21 down to roughly, just over $17.”

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She explained the saving on light bills.

“The government has determined now that every Barbadian household should have the first 250-kilowatt hours removed from their VAT rate of 17.5% to a new VAT rate of 7.5%. This is going to represent on average a savings of about $17 to every Barbadian household, regardless of whether you use 250-kilowatt hours or not, This my friends is critical and it may not be a lot, but when you see it and in conjunction with the other things that we are doing, then you will understand the wisdom of the old Barbadian saying that ‘one-one blow is kill old cow’.”

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Miss Mottley also believes continuing school meals during the holiday is key to assisting some families.

“We, therefore, intend to ensure that every child of school age, in this country, will be given an opportunity between the 25th of July, and the 2nd of September, to continue to benefit from school meals in Barbados. We believe that this is a critical component in ensuring that our school children can have nutritious meals, while at the same time, relieving the burden from off of the families.”