Grow food, lower prices

THE BUSINESS community yesterday expressed cautious optimism over statements by Minister in the Ministry of Finance Conrad Enill that Government was in the process of taking steps to curb rising food prices.

In an analysis of economic growth from 2000 to 2005 at the Eric Williams Financial Complex on Wednes-day, Enill said much of the inflation being experienced was headline inflation fuelled by rising food prices.

Noting that some of those increases had been as high as 23 percent, Enill said Government believes that if those increases were reduced to ten percent, it would considerably ease inflationary pressures.

Supermarkets Asso-ciation president Heeranand Maharaj said he was not certain of what the minister’s concerns about food prices were and his group would seek to meet with him on this matter.

Maharaj said TT remains the most competitive country within Caricom in terms of food prices and his association tries to pass on savings to consumers.

TT Manufacturers Association president Paul Quesnel said Government had to do something to reduce food prices but he was uncertain what were the specific measures it had in mind to achieve that goal.

Quesnel said the agricultural sector needed to be improved and this could be done by encouraging more people to get involved in agriculture and by putting mechanisms in place to reduce incidents of praedial larceny.

Quesnel said once domestic agriculture was stimulated to an appropriate level, local manufacturers could gradually shift their emphasis from mass food importation to processing local foods. He added that foods which cannot be grown here could be sourced from Caricom or other markets.

Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Industry and Commerce president Rohan Roopnarine said he felt Government was serious about reducing food prices and should examine the band of duties on food items and ways to prevent inflation from being imported into TT.

Roopnarine also suggested that some CEPEP and URP workers be used in the agricultural sector to stimulate production.