NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said the government is mindful of the “pain and suffering” the Bahamian people have endured over the last four years as it relates to the cost of living as he foreshadowed plans to “boost up the social services assistance”.
Davis said negotiations continue with stakeholders in The United States to reduce import costs on containers.
Last week, the government approved an increase in the price of several breadbasket items, including cooking oil, flour, margarine, evaporated milk, and corned beef.
Global inflation has also struck local goods and services in The Bahamas in recent months.
In an interview with Eyewitness News, the prime minister said his administration will do its best in the upcoming budget to mitigate the external shocks to the nation as it continues discussions with private sector stakeholders to “sensitize them” to bring “relief to the least… among us”.
“As you are aware… the consumptive economy that we are, a lot of factors are out of our control,” Davis said.
“We are trying to control those things as we can.
“And the cost of things imported has a consequence of having to be increased because of the external shocks: the disruption in the supply chain; the fact that inflation is not just impacting The Bahamas, but is a worldwide phenomenon at the moment.”
Davis said: “And so, we are doing our endeavor best in this budget. We hope to boost up the social services assistance to ensure that we are able to help the most vulnerable amongst us.
“We also continue our dialog with the merchant class to see how we can reach a point of them understanding what the consequences of increases in prices have on the poor, and asking them to partner with us to bring relief to the least among us.”
Davis said he expects to meet with business leaders in The Bahamas this week to discuss these issues.
“It’s really a private meeting, but at the very least, we are hoping that we can sensitize them to join with us to bring relief to the least, [the] vulnerable among us,” he told Eyewitness News.
“In addition, as you know, we have been talking with the transportation industry, particularly the maritime transportation.
“We have been able to negotiate some relief in the costs of transshipment of containers, particularly from the Middle East, from the Far East.”
Davis said: “We are now working on seeking to have some discount on containers coming from Florida and we are awaiting the outcome of that. Hopefully, we might be able to announce something in that regard in short order as well.
“But we are working vigorously because, at the end of the day, our people have undergone such pain and suffering over the last four years.
“Our job is to see how best we can bring relief to them. And that’s what we’ve been working on assiduously over the last six, eight months that we have been in power,” he added.
