Fellow Barbadians, these are indeed difficult times. We all know it and we all feel it. This evening, my government once again committed to shielding Barbadians from this reality by enacting a number of relief efforts.
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1) A Summer Nutritional Programme which will provide hot and nutritious meals for all school children, Monday to Friday, allowing them to have meals near their home at designated locations within communities. This programme will run from July 25, 2022 to September 2, 2022.
2) VAT on the first 250 kWh of residential electricity usage will be reduced from 17.5% to 7.5%. Data from the BL&P suggests that ~63% of local households use 250 kWh or less. In effect, a $204.46 bill down to $187.06. This will run from August 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023.
3) Government will expand the list of essential food items on which no VAT will be charged and/or no duties will be charged. VAT will be removed on hot chocolate, corn flakes, cream of wheat, sliced ham, black tea, honey, pears and apples.
While there is no VAT on citrus, duties will also be removed on oranges, grapefruits, lemons and limes.
4) A Compact will be signed on Saturday between the Government and members of the private sector, for local retailers to reduce their mark-up on 44 items to between 12% and 15%. This will cover a 6 month period, beginning on July 21, 2022 to Jan 31, 2023.
5) For our farmers, we have secured a commitment from the parent company of Pinnacle Feeds/Roberts Manufacturing, a commitment to freeze animal feed prices to our farmers, until January 31, 2023, barring extraordinary circumstances.
The flour mill has also committed to holding prices to suppliers for the next 6 months.
While we had frank discussions with partners, the sense of commitment to this country shown by all to make this happen is admirable. At the same time, to ensure prices in store reflect these prices, government will monitor and publish prices every two weeks.
6) As it relates to vegetables and produce, we continue to work with both Barbadian producers, as well as importers from Guyana and Suriname, to see how we can continue to reduce the price of vegetables, especially in markets.
7) In addition to the pre-existing FEED programme, Project CARE (Community Agriculture Response and Enfranchisement), will help improve our food security. The BADMC and BAMC will also produce content to help Barbadians take the matter of food security into their own hands.
Barbadians, these are just a few of the additional measures Government is taking to bring relief to you. In the coming days, I will again address the you on additional matters of national importance. These are indeed difficult times, but I know we will get through this together.
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