Bring cost down!

EFFORTS have to be made to reduce the cost of doing business in this country, and a Government Minister says Government is well aware that it needs to play its part.

Speaking to The Barbados Advocate recently, Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, said that bringing such costs down should positively impact the price consumers will pay for goods. As such, he said, one way Government can help, is to ensure that containers coming through the Bridgetown Port are unstuffed in as short a time as possible, so as not to incur demurrage charges, which are then passed on to the consumer.

“Rather than looking at a basket of goods to which a specific tax rate is applied, I like to look at how we can reduce the cost of doing business in Barbados, so that the prices of goods do not go up. So the State, therefore needs to become more efficient, we need to be able to do more business with Government, online and on time, and all of these bring down the cost of doing business,” he explained.

The Industry and Commerce Minister is adamant that if those overheads are reduced, it is to be expected that any respectable business would pass those savings onto customers.

Meanwhile, reflecting on the changes recently made to the Shops Act, which in addition to other things, alters the hours of work for shops, such that they are now allowed to open from 7 a.m. on Mondays, right through to 10 p.m. on Sundays, Inniss says based on informal reports he has received, it appears several businesses are taking advantage of the ability to open longer hours. The Minister said he is keen on hearing first hand from the business community their take on the amendment.

“Everything so far seems positive. If indeed more businesses are taking advantage of the hours, that naturally would lead to an expansion of the economy, as businesses are able to boost their revenue and provide employment, and by spreading their overheads over a longer period of time, reducing the costs,” he said. (JRT)

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