A consumer asked “Why have consumers been misled? We were told that the cost of living would not rise, that food prices would remain the same. Look at what has happened.”

Let us look at excerpts from articles in the press.

Sunday Stabroek, August 6, 2006

‘Not govt’s intention to have food prices increase because of VAT – Jagdeo’

“President Jagdeo said that it is not the government’s intention that food prices should increase because of Value-added Tax (VAT) which is to come on stream from January 1, 2007.

“Speaking at a press conference on Friday, President Jagdeo said that VAT would result in a price reduction for some items. ‘We exempted a whole lot of stuff,’ he said when asked about the possibility that food would become more expensive. ‘It is not our intention to have food prices increase.’ He added that while the prices of some items would increase, more prices would go down.”

Sunday Stabroek, August 13, 2006

‘Food prices likely to increase with VAT whether or not food items zero rated – Consumer advocate’

“With the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) in Guyana come January 1, 2007, prices are likely to increase whether or not government decides to zero-rate food items, says consumer advocate and newspaper columnist, Eileen Cox