Georgetown: The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) Ltd. welcomes the recent announcement by Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, that the prices for gasoline, diesel and kerosene would be reduced immediately at all state-owned fuel stations by 30 percent. The new prices bring local retail costs for fuel within range of current prices in North American, European and other developed countries that were reduced recently in response to plummeting costs for crude and refined oils around the world.
The GMSA had been calling on Government to put mechanisms in place that would ultimately lower production costs in the manufacturing and services sectors. The Association’s primary concern was (and still is) the high cost of electricity, the primary factor in most production processes, whether micro, small, medium or large.
This ministerial decision is expected to almost immediately address the cost of power for the companies that self-generate, and it is our hope that the trickle-down effect of reduced fuel prices will manifest in the rates charged by the Guyana Power & Light (GPL) company in the foreseeable future. More than 60 percent of local manufacturers of food products, arts and craft, wood and metal value-added products and other consumables depend on the national power grid. So too do the providers of hospitality, health, air transport, shipping and other services. The GMSA anticipates that lower fuel prices could, in the medium to long term, enable local producers to market their products and services in the Caribbean and farther afield on a more competitive basis and to ultimately increase their market share.
This of course, is predicated on the assumption that other major private suppliers of fuels across Guyana would implement the price reductions.
Prior to yesterday's announcement, the GMSA had already mapped out a proactive course of action to address the effects of recent changes in fuel prices around the world, and the concomitant adjustments that should be made in-country in keeping with the anticipated increase in trade, while remaining fully cognizant that the circumstances in the oil producing countries that brought about the lower prices are fluid. The Association intends to move forward with its programme of advocacy for improved conditions and services at the Customs Administration Department and related agencies.
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