NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Economic Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis said yesterday that in the absence of the total expansion of price control, it is difficult for the government to impact consumer prices.

Halkitis acknowledged that the high cost of goods is a vexing issue, with the government having undertaken several initiatives to address the situation.

"That's a vexing issue. There are a number of things we are doing. We have looked at how we can impact the cost of shipping. The government has reduced the Customs duty on food. We did a temporary expansion last year of the items that came under price control. We did five months for food and three months for pharmaceuticals.

"The difficulty is that if you drop duties that does not directly translate to a drop in prices in the store, particularly when those things are not price-controlled. The merchant might say I've had an increase in my electricity bill, there is pilferage or some other leakages," said Halkitis.

"In the absence of a total expansion of price control, it is very difficult for the government to impact the prices we see. There is a draft competition legislation that looks at things like market dominance and the people involved in wholesale as well as retail and if that is actually fair.

"We are promoting more local production because most of the food we consume is imported and so we are impacted by imported inflation. We have had some discussions with shipping companies to try and get them to reduce their rates but what they tell us is that if they reduce it it doesn't flow down to the consumer," Halkitis continued.

"We are now involved in a comprehensive study of the whole supply chain to see if there are any policy measures the government can take to promote competition."

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