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Close Topic OptionsTrinidad & Tobago Inflation At 10% - Page 5 of 25
In the Express cover of today, something I - Page 5 - Trinidad, Tobago / Caribbean - Posted: 14th Mar, 2008 - 12:20pm
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Economy, cost of living, high pricesTrinidad & Tobago Inflation At 10% - Page 5
I heard that the Trade Minister Dr Keith Rowley said the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago are to blame for the high-food prices because of their own attitude and lack of productivity.
What do you think about such statement?
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Inflation Tobago and Trinidad
When I read this letter in the Express about food prices in Trinidad, I could not agree more:
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| So, as with all of the months past, I ventured to a leading supermarket to buy groceries... I buy groceries for me and me alone; Nemo (my dog) does not eat Crix and Vienna sausage and ting... ME ALONE! Before I went to the grocery, I made a list... I decided that I was sticking to the list in order to maintain a decent grocery bill; the extras weren't necessary. These days, I look at them more as "treats" and "special items". Due to the high cost of meat, and since it is also Lent, I have decided that I'm cutting out meat in my diet-soya and seafood right through. I didn't need any soya because I still had a pack that I bought form PriceSmart (and yuh know PM sells their goods in BULK)... Anyhoos, I digress... So NO meat... therefore my bill should be even MORE decent, right? Instead of saying I want eggs, I have a half-dozen left in the fridge already, so I don't NEED eggs... Instead of saying I want flour, I have some remnants in the fridge too, so I don't NEED it, I will make do... I have rice already... thanks, PriceSmart... so I won't need it for a while... I use veggies a lot, so I really do NEED some... some sweet peppers and carrots, if you please... Cauliflower, you say? I pass it straight when I see the price... I have garlic, I don't NEED any more cloves... I have ketchup, I WILL MAKE IT LAST EVEN LONGER! I bought yeast... you know why? So I could make homemade pizza and bread... with the cost of a Kiss loaf at $8 now... the same pack of flour at $8 will last longer (maybe that's why I still have in my fridge!) Toothbrushes, soap, Breeze, bleach, salt... you know, the BASICS... I NEEDED those, so into the trolley they went... I drink a lot of water, so in goes an eight-gallon bottle of Blue Waters. I like juice... in goes FOUR cans of Trinidad Juice juices. No Coke, Sprite, cranberry juice (which I love)... I will make do with my water and juice I have to mix... Then I reach the cold section... And of course, as is the norm in that supermarket now, NO REGULAR RAT CHEESE... yuh know...the one wrapped up in the cellophane... I eh shame, I does buy it, it relatively cheaper than the "fancy shmancy" brands right? But I NEED cheese... what else with Crix, and who eats cheese-less homemade pizza? So I look at the options...Veggie cheese? NOPE... A SMALL PACK (and I mean SMALL) OF ANCHOR CHEDDAR CHEESE IS $30, AND THE LARGER RECTANGULAR BLOCK IS TT$70. Brrr? But I NEED it... so I settle for the smallest pack available... before even looking at the edam and gouda to see if I could buy those instead, but the prices caused me to temporarily get deaf (don't ask about my body's response, but I swear I wasn't hearing the other people in the grocery). So, I place it in the trolley... and proceed, with a heavy heart, to the cashier... It's my turn to cash now, and as the cashier swipes each item, I scrutinise the display screen, making sure there are no double entries, and to monitor the progress of the tally... with a heavy heart. What is my total... for groceries for a month, for ME ALONE, NO MEAT, just the BASICS, no TREATS, no SNACKS, what I NEEDED? Total = $560 |
Trinidad & Tobago Inflation At 10% Caribbean / Tobago & Trinidad
What is the real reason we do not have some kind of price control board in the country?
Inflation Tobago and Trinidad
More bad news for those people who have no choice but to eat. 
The price of rice is going up along with other items. I am telling you all, rice and peas seem the cheapest but just now, we will not be able to even eat that.
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| Supermarkets were yesterday informed that Par Excellence parboiled rice will now cost them 10 percent more. Grocers also revealed that this past week Unilever Caribbean Limited issued notices that the prices of Blue Band, Golden Ray and Cookeen margarines had gone up. Tuna prices also increased last Monday and many pluck shops increased the price of their chicken to $10.50 per pound, moving from last month's $9.50 price. Managing director of JMH Enterprise Charles James, who distributes the Par Excellence brand of rice told Newsday yesterday that as distributors continue to fork out more for rice shipments, price hikes have become unavoidable. World market prices continue to skyrocket in light of chronic shortages, he said. "We don't even know if we are going to get rice next month as the global pool is shrinking. For instance, Thailand is no longer exporting rice, they don't have enough to, so they are keeping their rice for themselves. This places heavy demand on other rice producers, " James stressed. At a leading supermarket in St Augustine yesterday, Par Excellence parboiled one, two, four and nine kilogramme packs were going for $8.79; $13.29; $25.09 and $73.49 respectively. With a 10 percent increase it would mean that these prices will move from $8.79 to $9.67; $13.29 to $14.62; $25.09 to $27.60 and $73.49 to $80.84. Former president of the Supermarkets Association Balliram Maharaj said while there's a continuous barrage of price increases, even worse is the growing scarcity of food. "If you think rising food prices is the problem, the real challenge is finding basic foods. I am not finding split peas," said Maharaj. He said over the last year split peas prices jumped a whopping 250 percent; lentils 273 percent; cheese 77 percent; pig feet 65 percent; cow heel 57 percent; dried pigeon peas 51 percent and red beans by 41 percent. Calls placed to Unilever's communications and sales departments yesterday went unanswered. Some of the leading poultry producers complained last month about heavy grain price hikes. Higher grain prices they indicated means that they are losing, as they agreed to a pact with the Ministry of Consumer and Legal Affairs in November 2007 to keep the price of chicken between $5.25 and $5.50 per pound... |
Trinidad & Tobago Inflation 10% - Page 5
Oh boy, this mean all flour-related products are going to rise as well. 
Gosh, when is this madness going to stop? Trinis PLEASE let's move to the streets and complain to the government about this ridiculous situation!
Trinidad & Tobago Inflation 10% Trinidad & Tobago / Caribbean - Page 5
In the Express cover of today, something I have been saying all along. NO MORE CHEAP FOOD.. The Ministry of Finance, clearly stated that there is nothing they can do to stop the food prices from increasing in Trinidad and Tobago. We are hopeless...literally.
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| The era of cheap food is over, worldwide. So brace for higher prices for food and other commodities such as steel. This was the message delivered by Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Mariano Browne, at yesterday's post-Cabinet press conference at Whitehall in Port of Spain as he responded to questions on escalating prices. Noting that globally demand was outstripping supply for food and several commodities such as steel, Browne stated that there was a limit as to what Government could do to cushion the consumer from this worldwide phenomenon. Asked whether Government, through State-owned National Flour Mills, was entertaining a subsidy to provide relief to the consumer against increases in flour and animal feed prices, Browne said these increases were part of worldwide demand and Government could not do anything about it. Was he therefore saying that consumers should prepare themselves for higher flour prices? Browne replied that Trinidad and Tobago was an importing country, and if the world price of flour increases, then there would be a consequential and inevitable increase in the domestic price. "There may be some attempt to mitigate those prices, but there is a break on how far that can be done," he said. On rising steel prices, Browne said Trinidad and Tobago as other countries in the world was in the middle of a cycle in which the price of commodities was rising substantially. "There is little that we can do to mitigate those things. If you are going to be building high rises and this is the price (then there is nothing you can do). We are a price taker, not a price maker," he said. Browne noted however that high prices in the market can send "good signals". |
TOPIC: Trinidad & Tobago Inflation At 10%