The National Milling Company of Guyana Inc (Namilco) will institute a 6% across-the-board increase in the price of flour with effect from September 21 as a result of the increased price of grains including wheat.
Contributing to this is the severe drought in the USA and other parts of the world and the international increasing demands for food, Namilco said in a press release yesterday.
According to the release, Managing Director of Namilco, Bert Sukhai, said that the rates had escalated over the last couple of months but the company desisted from increasing the price of flour with the expectation of the hike being temporary. The company’s last increase was in March 2011.
“However, we have been buying wheat at higher prices and can no longer afford to hold prices steady,” Sukhai said.
Discussions were held with the acting Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce and a 12% increase was requested. However, at his request, the release said, a 6% increase across the board was agreed to.
“Our flour still remains one of the cheapest in the Caribbean despite the high cost of power. We want to assure consumers that increases are taking place worldwide and we will monitor the situation with the expectation that wheat prices and consequently flour prices will decline in the future,” the statement concluded.
