Dear Editor,
It was in October 2024 that the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, took it upon himself to remind us of his Government’s dedication to alleviate the financial burdens faced by Guyanese citizens amid rising living costs. Rising prices are not a PPP thing or a Guyanese thing, it was a global situation and to blame the rising prices on the PPP is most prejudicial and irrational. The empirical evidence, even from China, proves that the post-COVID global trend was indeed one of rising prices. This phenomenon, often referred to as “post-pandemic inflation,” was driven by a combination of factors, including:
Supply Chain Disruptions: Lockdowns and restrictions on movement led to severe disruptions in global supply chains, causing shortages of goods and increased transportation costs. In October 2024, the Drewry World Shipping Index shows that the cost to ship a 40-foot container was up more than 250% compared to a year ago. That increase in shipping is being passed on to the consumers by the private sector and unfortunately, the Government is powerless on this matter. To ease the burden the PPP has removed all taxes on fuel so that the private businesses can use these gains to ease the burden on the small man.
Increased Demand: As the Guyanese economy continues to expand at a rapid pace, this is driving a massive surge in consumer demand. Guyana is not a communist country where the Government tells the consumer what to buy and what not to buy. Plus because of the smallness of our ports, there is an increased competition for shipping vessels to land here. So while Clive Thomas and the lot are asking for $100,000 and $200,000 for the Guyanese people, what they are not telling the people is that these government stimulus packages are further fueling demand for too few goods in Guyana. That is the classic reason for price increases when too many dollars are chasing too few goods.
Commodity Price Increases: The prices of commodities like food increased significantly over the last 12 months due to supply chain disruptions, geopolitical tensions, and increased cost of wages and demand from the Global South. Unfortunately, because of Guyana’s production inefficiency in agriculture, we have been increasing more food into the country and this is driving prices up since it is contributing to the importation of foreign inflation into Guyana. The solution, the Ministry of Agriculture has to get its act together and grow our food production by as much as 30% every year in all food categories. Guyana is in urgent need for an active National Development Strategy for the Agriculture Portfolio.
Labour Shortages: Labour shortages in Guyana have led to wage increases, which were then passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. Guyana has now found itself importing truck drivers, plumbers, carpenters and many other skilled persons from overseas and this is driving up the pass-through for the final food product. People with higher wages are willing to pay more for food as compared to most pensioners who are on a fixed income and cannot afford to pay more. The impact is real and more has to be done for the pensioners and those on fixed income.
While the PPP Government is doing everything within its power to deal with the impact of the increased cost of living, there is a limit to how much it can do. I am appealing to the Ministry of Agriculture to go on a GROW MORE FOOD campaign by distributing seeds to every householder and also offering them free fertilizer and seedlings so that more people can grow their foods and mind their chicken (even if it is a dozen at a time) to stem this crisis around food prices. Further the Ministry of Social Security must offer the pensioners, the disabled and those on social assistance hampers to ease the pain for those at the bottom of the barrel. What the PPP has done wonderfully is remove taxes from various food products to help stabilize prices. Maybe some more taxes on food items can be removed in Budget 2015.
Sincerely,
Lisa Ally
