PRESS SECRETARY                   OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER

Email: pmoffice@gov.gd                                             Website: www.gov.gd

   Phone: 1- 473- 440-7258 or 1- 473- 440- 2255      Fax: 1- 473- 435- 7285

 

Ministry of Finance

Text from Press Conference on Prices

Tuesday 19th June 2007

 

Panel:  Lennox J. Andrews, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance & Mr. Fitzroy James, General Manager of the MNIB.

 

We are here to report to you on the progress we have made relative to reducing prices in the country.  You would recall that our Prime Minister on taking office as Minister of Finance and our Minister of Economic Development and Planning on assuming the new role and taking the direct responsibility of MNIB, together pledged their commitment to doing something very quickly in response to the fervent call of the people of Grenada to ease the pressure of higher prices on them.  Government has therefore demonstrated its sympathy with the population by taking a number of actions.

 

One of the very first actions taken by the two ministers was to have a meeting with all price control officers to get an understanding from them of the various factors accounting for the price increase in the country, especially the prices of those items that are on the price control list.  That was a very useful meeting as not only were the Ministers fully informed of forces in the international community that impact on prices, but it led the way for defining a strategy for bringing prices down.

 

So following that meeting the senior price control officers and the two Permanent Secretaries met and identified a list of regularly consumed products on the price control list whose prices have been increasing; we also identified the importers of these items; we discussed among ourselves the determination of the final prices of these products, and then came up with some ideas of what can be done to bring their prices down   We then decided to share these ideas with the importers of those products to get their concurrence in implementing them. 

 

Our ideas on bringing prices down focused on four main areas:

 

·        Where possible seeking lower CIF values for the goods imported into the country

 

·        Concentrating on adjustments and corrections to calculation of mark-ups and other costs related to the final price of these commodities

 

·        Maintaining and enforcing an agreed procedure for placing the prices of these items on the market, and

 

·        Sharing on regular basis information on the movement of prices internationally and their impact on the domestic price level.

 

With these ideas we thought that we should first start with ourselves, i.e. set the example for others to follow.  So our first meeting was with the MNIB on Monday 11th June.    On Thursday 14th June we met with two local importers, Bryden and Minors and Hubbards, and a meeting is planned later this week with Huggins and Independence Agencies.

 

Today we are happy to report on the results of our meeting with MNIB.  As you know MNIB has the monopoly to import bulk rice, bulk sugar (both brown and white) and bulk milk.   We discussed with MNIB the possibility of lowering the prices of these items in keeping with the spirit of the creators of this noble institution.  In doing so we were mindful of the need to ensure the financial viability of the institution for we always seek to maintain optimality in our economic system.   In our humble view, it makes no sense taking from someone to make another better off, while making worse off the one we took from.   Therefore we are happy to announce the following: 

 

1.      Effective Monday 25th 2007, the retail price of brown sugar is reduced from EC$0.99 per lb. to EC$0.93 per lb.

 

2.      Effective Monday 25th June 2007, the retail price of rice will be reduced to EC$1.06  

 

3.      No change was made to the current price of white sugar and it would therefore remain at EC$1.60 per lb. 

 

4.      The per lb price of the next shipment of full cream milk will be reduced to EC$9.92 

 

Following a meeting with the Minister of Finance, on Monday 18th June 2007, we also met with representatives from Bryden & Minors and Hubbards to discuss price reduction for some of the commodities imported by them.   They have also agreed to reduce on their mark ups for certain products as from a date to be announced.  However, a separate press conference will be called to inform the nation, after we would have met with all the major importers of price controlled items in the country.

 

With these actions, the Government of Grenada and the private sector have both demonstrated their sympathy with the people of Grenada in this period of high rising prices.  It must however be noted that while the government and private sector are doing their part in helping to alleviate the high price effect on the people of Grenada, it must also be borne in mind that the people themselves have their part to play in helping themselves.  We therefore ask of our people to practice good eating habits, and to supplement their own incomes by getting involved in backyard gardening.  There is a famous adage that once dominated our philosophy of development.  It reads as follows: Grow what you eat and eat what you grow.  In this contemporary period of high rising period, this adage is very applicable and relevant today as it was twenty five years.