President Ali — Government will continue to pursue measures to improve cost of living

President Irfaan Ali on Friday reminded Guyanese about the menu of measures his Government
has already put in place to offset the impact of the global supply chain issues. He also promised
to do more to improve the cost of living.
Ali who recently returned from the UN Climate Summit, which was held in Glasgow, Scotland,
said that efforts have also been ongoing in the form of bilateral meetings to offset additional
expenses for local producers. During an address to the nation, Ali spoke of the difficulties at the
global level and explained that the issue would continue to be a problem “at least in the short
term”. The President said that the increase in the cost of production and logistics have driven
prices up across the world.  He noted that it has resulted in shortages and price increases from
building materials to food.
FOOD REPLACEMENT
“That is why at CARICOM, we are pushing on an agenda to do what we call food replacement;
that is to have a reduction on our food import bill by 25% and having the local production fill
that void,” Ali argued. President Ali noted that at home, it is necessary to have more “local
consumption”.
The Head of State promised that his Government will continue to give incentives to those
investing in agriculture, given the nature of the global situation and the fact that Guyanese are
also feeling the effects of the price increases. Ali stressed that along with supporting farmers and
cushioning the net effect of the increased cost of freights, the range of tax benefits that his
Government has instituted since returning to office, has helped offset the full brunt of the
problem. The President reminded of the removal of VAT on electricity and water, the 5%
reduction—across the board—on water tariff, the zero-rated status on essential items and
household items, the removal of VAT on data, the reduction of the excise tax rate on fuel (first in
February and then in October) and the reduction of licence fee.
Additionally, President Ali made mention of the many non-tax measures that directly impacted
Guyanese. He spoke about the one-off $25,000 relief grant, the re-introduction of educational
grants (benefited both public and private school students), a one-off 25,000 cash grant for
pensioners and a range of other incentives. “All of these measures were to remove more tax
burden from the population and give them an opportunity to have those resources as disposable
income. And the measures that we have implemented are praised by many international agencies
and organisations.  They are actually used as good practices in combatting the challenges we are
facing globally,” the President explained. He said that his Government would continue to help
alleviate the pressure of the cost of living on the general population and committed to
transparency. “We recognised that this is a continuous problem and that the Government has to
be proactive in addressing these issues.  I want you to know, just as we have done over the year
plus; we will continue to pursue measures that minimise the effect on the people of our country,
that minimise the effect on your pockets—you can rest assured,” he declared.

President Ali noted that at the international level, his Government does not intend to sit down
and wait for the situation to correct itself.  He used the rising cost of fertilisers as an example and
said that over the last four weeks, discussions were held with many bilateral partners to remedy
this. “We are doing this so that the farmers, the sugar industry, the rice producers—they can all
benefit. Because if we don’t bring down the cost, we know too that the cost of rice will
increase,” he reasoned.
MORAL RESPONSIBILITY
Ali declared that Guyanese, especially those who are benefitting the most from the Government
programmes and incentives, need to have a moral responsibility. He said that this is important in
ensuring that the benefits reach the ordinary man. “In all of this that the Government is doing,
the measures that we are implementing to help the importers, to help the farmers, to help the
producers, we expect them to act in a way that befits their moral responsibility to the consumer,
to minimise the impact of the consumers,” the President said.
The Head of State spoke highly of the poultry sector and said that his Government expects all
other sectors to play their part. “This is a global challenge that requires us to act collectively, that
requires us to support each other.  You have a greater responsibility to society, and you should
not look at profiteering—we are in this together.   You Government would confront these
challenges with strong, workable measures, but we also need the support of all the stakeholders,”
President Ali declared.