Warning
of
high
prices
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
28 07 07
Oil
prices reached a new high of US$92 a barrel yesterday
and local economists said there were
several ways which Trinidad and Tobago and the
Caribbean region
could end up paying for this.
Plastics, freight prices and airfare topped the
lists of items which could become more expensive
if the oil price continues to rise.
Economist Dhanayshar Mahabir said: "This
price hike will create a ripple effect. The disposable
income of many other Caricom countries who are
not oil producers will be decreased as they fork
out more and more money for fuel. Freight charges
will increase and the price of imported products
will be affected."
Businessmen are already taking note of increasing
import prices.
President of the Supermarkets Association
Heeranand Maharaj told the Express: "Import
duties on goods such as edible oils have been
increased significantly."
Like Mahabir, economist Jwala Rambaran told the
Express while the increase could mean more money
for the country, more money at the top could have
negative effects for the poor man at the bottom
of the economic ladder.
Rambaran said: "If a lot of
the excess is spent by the government then inflation
will skyrocket,
however, they have said 60 per cent of excess revenue
will go into the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund,
so it all boils down to how fast they spend the
next 40 per cent."
Mahabir said citizens should note that higher
prices did not automatically translate into a larger
sum of cash for the government as factors within
the oil and gas taxation regime would also play
a huge role on how much of the money actually goes
to the government and how much goes back to the
multinational energy companies who carry out exploration
and production.
Both men agreed that any government who comes
into power after the November 5 general elections
will have to decide how and when excess oil revenue
would be spent in the next fiscal year.
"And they should articulate it to the public
because their spending affects inflation for us
all in Trinidad and Tobago and it is as much our
business as it is theirs," added Mahabir.
Story
by Aretha
Welch, from the
Trinidad Express
- awelch@trinidadexpress.com
Trinidad
Express
Saturday, October 27th 2007
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