There will be a phase two of the Social Compact between the private sector and Government.
Senior Minister for Co-ordinating the Productive Sectors, Kerrie Symmonds, gave an update on the proposed new compact today, at his Culloden Road, St. Michael office.
Mr. Symmonds told the media: “We will still be treating to the 47 items under the basket of goods…. The new agreement…will once again be for a period of six months…. For its part, Government has indicated already that we will…continue the reduction of electric bill assistance for domestic uses in households, for a period of another eight months. And…that is but one indication of Government’s ongoing commitment.
“The question of the Government’s reduction of the Value Added Tax and the other waivers of duty will be settled by the Cabinet of Barbados, hopefully during the course of the next week or two. But it is definitely on the cards as a recommendation before the Cabinet.”
The first compact was implemented from July 21, 2022, to January 31, 2023, to ease the burden on consumers because of surging prices as a result of inflationary trends taking place internationally. Forty-seven categories associated with the basket of goods benefitted from a reduction in the mark-ups.
In sharing some of the information agreed on, Minister Symmonds stated:
- The distributors and manufacturers have agreed to a mark-up between 12 to 18% on dry goods and 12 to 20% on cold storage products as listed in the basket of goods.
- Pork producers have agreed to hold to a mark-up of 10% and sell at $7.25 per pound or $15.95 per kilogramme on pork hocks and knuckles, pork mixed/stew from the hind and shoulder legs at $7.75 or $17.05 per kilogramme. These prices are the upper price limits which will be discounted down in times of build-up.
- Some poultry farmers and producers will work with individual supermarket retailers to bring the best pricing to consumers.
Mr. Symmonds listed the companies participating in phase two of the compact as:
- Massy stores; A1 Supermarket; Jordan’s Supermarket, Popular Supermarket; Bridge Supermarket; Cherish Supermarket, People’s Market, and R.L Seale.
The first compact was implemented from July 21, 2022, to January 31, 2023, to ease the burden on consumers because of surging prices as a result of inflationary trends taking place internationally. Forty-seven categories associated with the basket of goods benefitted from a reduction in the mark-ups.
He listed the distributors and manufacturers as:
- Armstrong Agencies Ltd; Stansfeld Scott and Co. Ltd; Massy Distribution; Bryden Stokes Ltd; Western Wholesale Inc.; Supreme Distributors Inc., and Hanschell Inniss Limited.
- The bakeries are: Purity Bakeries, Crumbz Bakery and Zephirin’s Bakeries Ltd.
- For meats/poultry: Barbados Pig Farmers’ Society and some poultry producers.
The Minister thanked the members of the private sector for their participation in the first compact, saying it had brought a tremendous amount of pressure on them.
“The private sector carried a heavy burden. They came to the table and they put skin in the game in defence of the interests of the ordinary consumer in Barbados, who are the people with whom they do business on a day-by-day basis.
“And I want personally to thank them for the sacrifice that they have made and the commitment they have demonstrated towards social stability in this country. It has not been done without great pain, and quite frankly, for some businesses, great peril as well,” he pointed out.
President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Anthony Branker, said the business community was mindful of the social impact that a significant rise in price could have at this time.
He added that the businesses that would be signing on to the new compact had committed, in the interest of Barbados, to continue to reduce their mark-ups.
“We regrettably do not have all of the persons that would have been on the first compact…, but I think generally we have an overall group of retailers and distributors that consumers should still see the control of prices versus what it could have been if full mark-ups were applied.
“It is not a price control, so as we get variations in freight, variations in our first cost, prices will still move up or down, but it is a mark-up control. We have agreed to a mark-up range so that there would still be some competitiveness among retailers…,” Mr. Branker stated.
Director of A1 Supermarket Limited, Tomilson Bynoe, said the retail and distribution sectors would continue to assist, where required, in managing the cost of living in this country.
“We are at the frontline; we understand the needs of the consumer and we just want to reassure Barbadians that as this process moves forward, you can expect from retail and distribution the same level of support that would have been given over the last six months to continue during the next six months,” Mr. Bynoe stressed.