Dear Editor,
When reading the list of zero-rated food items in the papers, you wonder what was going on in the Ministry of Finance and in the government generally as they come up with it. Why can’t all food items, be zero-rated? What is the difference between dhal, and black-eye and kidney beans and channa? All beans are nutritious sources of protein especially for vegetarians.
All are probably imported as well! Was it cold financial accountants who have no clue as to what goes on with people’s food baskets? One could understand with imported fruits and vegetables since we have good local supply. It gets more bizarre with the difference in the breads.
January caught us by shock, apparently the consumers have to be literate and vigilant. We will need sophisticated accounting histories, and ability to argue figures with the best of them. I tried figuring out whether prices will fall, but this is difficult, since it is difficult to find out whether people raised their prices as well, and fiddling with consumption tax and the like.
Yours faithfully,
Vidyaratha Kissoon
