That the Council of Ministers has approved a 50% reduction in the special import duty on gasoline (see Tuesday newspaper) finally spells some relief from exceptionally high oil prices mostly due to the war against Iran and related limited passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The programme will initially run for two to three months before being reassessed.
And it’s not just about motorists. Transport costs figures into practically all consumer products especially on an island that largely depends on shipments from overseas.
This move will cut the charge in half from 29 to 14.5 guilder cents per litre, so it won’t be near enough to negate the overall rise in fuel tariffs during the past year. However, the decision announced by Finance Minister Marinka Gumbs is certainly a helpful gesture.
She had actually presented a proposal since March, saying it took “months of persistent efforts, research and advocacy.” The measure was developed in cooperation with her colleagues of Justice and of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT).
The levy applies to neither diesel used by many bus drivers nor utility provider GEBE’s fuel clause. However, the latter is being kept in check somewhat lately and plans are to lower the government-owned company’s electricity rates through intervention of regulator Bureau Post & Telecommunications (BTP).
In addition, the updated basket of basic goods for which government sets maximum prices was to be published in the coming days, with retailers and wholesalers getting one week’s notice to make the necessary adjustments, according to TEATT Minister Grisha Heyliger-Marten in the same edition. She said the process took longer than planned.
The ministry is also undertaking an essential goods price, cost structure and value chain study to examine the factors that influence prices from source to shelf. Don’t expect too much though, because the number of essentials was already expanded sixfold from 12 to 72 in the recent past, while local businesses obviously cannot be forced to sell items at a loss.
Perhaps the best hope of lowering living expenses is offered by the Democrats earning majorities in both the US House of Representatives and Senate during last week’s midterm election. That could conceivably promote a normalisation of the situations in both the Middle East and Eastern Europe as well as the removal of inflationary trade barriers imposed by Republican President Donald Trump.
