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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2022
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‘The public is better off’: Eliminate price controls By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SUPER Value’s principal yesterday urged the Government to abolish the price control regime rather than expand it, arguing: “Consumers will be better off.” Rupert Roberts, speaking to Tribune Business after the Prime Minister pledged to extend price controls to 38 extra products and further cut existing mark-ups allowed on food staples such as chicken and eggs, argued that the administration needs to move in the opposite direction by allowing retailers and wholesalers true freedom to compete. Describing price controls as akin to “price fixing”, he explained that they eliminated incentives for grocery retailers to seek out efficiency savings and sell below what rivals charged since all
• Super Value chief tells PM: Go in opposite direction • Shocked industry not consulted on regime expansion • Warns stores may drop staples if ‘squeezed too tight’ operators simply offer pricecontrolled goods at the same cost. Voicing shock that the Government had not consulted the industry before Philip Davis KC’s national address on Tuesday night, Mr Roberts told this newspaper: “It’s really better to let the competition in than control it. With price controls, everybody sells at the price controlled price, but if you allow competition the everybody tries to outdo one another. “I think the public would be better off. Everybody will
try to outdo one another’s prices. That’s what happens in a non-price controlled environment. Price controls are kind of price fixing. We can all sell for the price controlled price. We don’t have to try and outdo each other. “The Bahamas is the only country in the world that I know has price controls. The other countries as far as I know didn’t initiate price controls or, if they did, they gave it up 50 years ago.” The Davis administration, though, has chosen the reverse course by unveiling a major expansion
THE Government yesterday unveiled a rare $40.2m Budget surplus for July 2022 despite VAT revenues declining by more than 25 percent or some $36.5m year-over-year. The Ministry of Finance signalled that the 2022-2023 fiscal year had got off to a
positive start with the $40.2m showing by how much the Government’s tax revenues exceeded its spending for that month - the first in the current Budget period. The performance, which represented a major improvement over the narrow $500,000 surplus produced in July 2021 under the former Minnis administration, was driven by a combination
of revenue increases and spending reductions with the Government having wounddown its previous COVID-19 support for both individuals and businesses.; “Revenue receipts of $259.1m represent a 7.9 percent ($19m) yearover-year increase,” the Ministry of Finance’s July report revealed. “Tax collections totalled $230.9m,
RUPERT ROBERTS of the existing regime in a bid to further counter the cost of living crisis as well as show Bahamians it is acting on the pressures caused by soaring inflation. Emphasising that the price control regime’s expansion is for a six-month trial period, Mr Davis said on Tuesday evening: “Tonight, I want to announce that we have added
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supported by year-over-year improvements of 156.6 percent in other taxes on goods and services to $49.1m; 82.7 percent in international trade and transactions taxes to $66.8m; 79.1 percent in other revenue to $0.6m; and 16 percent in property tax collections to $8.7m.
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Price control expansion ‘last straw’ for grocers By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Retail Grocers Association’s president yesterday warned that expanding the price control regime could be “the last straw” for small and medium-sized food stores, adding: “I’d like to know what the magic formula is.” Philip Beneby told Tribune Business that extending price controls to 38 extra products, as well as further cutting existing margins on food staples such as bread, eggs and chicken, meant the industry’s profits will be further eroded just as it faces major cost hikes due to Bahamas Power & Light (BPL), the minimum wage
increase, rising National Insurance Board (NIB) contributions and a multitude of other expenses. With price-controlled items, which are sold below cost and effectively act as loss leaders, accounting for between 60-70 percent of a typical food store’s inventory, he added that some merchants may have no choice but to terminate staff or even close down their operations depending on the details surrounding the regime expansion which have yet to be announced by the Government. Questioning what “magic formula” the Government expected retailers to employ to stay profitable
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Two-thirds of hotel staff in minimum wage boost By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net UP to two-thirds of the hotel industry’s workforce may benefit from the 24 percent minimum wage increase unveiled by the Prime Minister, it was revealed yesterday, amid hopes the sector’s rising business volumes will offset the extra cost. Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s president, told Tribune Business the $50 per week increase announced by Philip Davis KC was “long overdue” while the January 2023 implementation date gives
the industry “sufficient time to prepare” and adjust cost structures. He added, though, that the upcoming $260 per week minimum wage cannot be “viewed in isolation” but is part of a broader cost package that needs to be lowered to ensure the tourism industry’s sustainable development and continued contribution to economic growth. “We recognise that was long overdue.” Mr Sands said of the minimum wage increase. “We anticipated some increase in the minimum wage, so this does not come as a total shock. We
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Unions not giving up $300 minimum wage • Will renew push once ‘strong’ economic rebound • But back linking future rises to Bahamas inflation • And agree ‘livable wage’ out of reach at present
Gov’t in $40m surplus despite 25% VAT drop By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE TRADES Union Congress (TUC) president yesterday asserted that the labour movement will push for a further minimum wage increase to $300 per week once the OBIE FERGUSON economy has rebounded “in a strong way”. Obie Ferguson told Tribune Business he “sees no reason” why the unions should not advocate for such a rise once The Bahamas has fully recovered from the devastation inflicted by COVID-19 while affirming that achieving a “livable wage” remains the ultimate goal. He conceded, though, that the latter is a long-term objective that will likely take many years to reach. And the TUC chief also agreed with the Bahamian private sector that, rather than increase the minimum wage by large increases at infrequent intervals as has been done to-date, it should instead be indexed to the cost of living and raised annually by an amount equal to local inflation. These smaller increases would be more digestible, and easier for Bahamian businesses to swallow in their payroll expenses, with Mr Ferguson yesterday saying that increased
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