Minister admits bakers fail to lower bread prices

Bakers, who have recently benefitted from cheaper flour prices from National Flour Mills, have failed to keep their promise to lower the price of bread and other flour based products, Minister of Legal Affairs Camille Robinson-Regis stated yesterday. However, she stressed that in a liberalised economy, the Government could not implement price controls. It can therefore only “rely on moral suasion and the integrity of producers to pass savings on to consumers,” she said. She added that the onus fell on consumers to exercise the power of choice and patronise only those businesses that operated in the interest of consumers by passing savings on to them. Robinson-Regis was responding to a question from UNC Senator Wade Mark in the Senate yesterday. She stated that since the recent reduction in international wheat prices, National Flour Mills had fullfilled its commitment to the national community by a 10 to 17 percent reduction in the prices of flour and flour-related products.  She said investigations indicated that most supermarkets had passed these savings on to their customers. However, the makers of bread and other flour based products have not made similar concessions. The minister, noted that in May the Bakers’ Association, gave an assurance that the prices would definitely be going down. “However, the minister is not satisfied that the prices have been reduced across the board, as this is not reflected in the examination made by the Consumer Affairs Division, or in reports reaching the Minister from members of the national community,” she said.