Barbadian consumers will be paying less for gasoline and diesel come Friday, as Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that the price of fuel at the pump will be capped for the next five months. CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP FOR NEWS UPDATES.
Gasoline will cost BDS$4.48 (US$2.24) per litre, while diesel will be BDS$4.03 (US$2.01) until January 31, 2023.
During a wide-ranging press conference on Monday, Mottley said the cap on the Value Added Tax on gasoline and diesel, which was put in place five months ago, would be kept in place.
“We are going to extend that cap at least until the 31st of January, and we are doing that recognizing that Barbadians do need to be shielded some more…. And while things are difficult even for the Government, we feel that we have an obligation to shield Barbadians more,” she said.
“We will now place a cap on the price of gasoline and the price of diesel at the pump and we will hold to that higher price until the 31st of January. To be very precise, if the prices fall below that cap, all of those reductions will be passed through to the consumer. If the prices go above that cap, the Government will hold the line and keep the cap in place.”
Prime Minister Mottley added that, periodically, Government would have to “make whole” the Barbados National Oil Company, the importers of the products.
She stressed that this adjustment was necessary to give some level of predictability to consumers and those people whose livelihood depended on gasoline and diesel.
Mottley pointed out that there had been a decline in prices, so Government was not capping at the highest possible price.
“The BDS$4.83 (US$2.41) at the pump that you are paying now for gasoline is at a far higher price than what is currently available and to that extent we will absorb the loss on that, because those prices were to have remained in place until the end of January. Since then there was a shipment that came in a little lesser; we believe that we need to cap it at the lesser amount…,” Mottley said.
The Prime Minister disclosed that earlier in the day she held discussions with Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw; Senior Minister Kerri Symmonds, who has responsibility for the Ministry of Energy, and the public service vehicle associations.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP FOR NEWS UPDATES.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP FOR NEWS UPDATES.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP FOR NEWS UPDATES.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP FOR NEWS UPDATES.
2 responses to “Barbados PM announces cap on gas prices”
Its just about 4.5 litre makes a gallon, compare Barbados to Antigua and Barbuda we here in 268 actually getting away on a lower price
By holding fuel prices constant in Barbados until January, 2023, Prime Minister Mia Mottley is sending a subtle message to Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda. The message is that the Mia Mottley Government in Barbados is willing to cry shame on the Antigua and Barbuda Government for not placing a cap on fuel prices in the twin island state.
Beyond that, Prime Minister Mia Mottley is giving an indication that she is not prepared to stand idly by and see Prime Minister Gaston Browne win another Electoral Term in Antigua and Barbuda. Don’t forget that Mr. Harold Lovell, Miss Mia Mottley and former Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Mr. Kenny Anthony were called to the bar together in the United Kingdom (UK): the trio were obviously soulmates in the UK. Also, remember that it was Mr. Harold Lovell, while being Finance Minister in the last United Progressive Party (UPP) Government, who allowed Barbados to obtain the majority shareholding in LIAT.
On top of the above outlined machinations, Barbados sent soldiers into the Commonwealth of Dominica during the last election campaign season there to tame political unrest on that island. Now, it is Antigua and Barbuda’s turn; this time, to replace our current political leadership with a soulmate of Prime Minister Mia Mottley. My Dear People, it has become my humble duty to disclose to you that Eastern Caribbean leaders have been engaging in dark thoughts – or maybe enlightening ones – and a recolonization process has commenced in the sub-region: now that Barbados has freed itself from the United Kingdom’s (UK) monarchy, and is now a republic, it’s political leadership is now full of ambitious thoughts. Barbados is no longer content to be a single island. But, is intent on expanding its control over other Eastern Caribbean territories. I can’t say this is a bad thing, because I always thought, since my days at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, that Barbados’ destiny is to be part of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
Barbados becoming a part of the OECS could not be a bad thing: because Barbados is geographically strategically located just east of the chain of OECS islands; Barbados could expand its manufacturing capabilities to supply the OECS islands and vice versa; the OECS islands could adopt the Barbados Dollar as their currency, or Barbados could help create a new Eastern Caribbean Dollar valued on the basis of the current Barbados Dollar.
In conclusion of the above, I welcome Barbadian designs on the OECS territories. Somebody needs to unite these islands, and I think Barbados could. On the contrary, it’s not attractive nor feasible to embark on a trust toward Caribbean wide political union at this time, nor in the foreseeable future. Welcome to Barbados into the OECS family. Or maybe we can call it the Greater Barbados family. Whatever we call it, it will be a great thing to see Barbados and the OECS become part of the same family, this time being some kind of political union.