Déjà vú all over again as prices rise

We went through this a month ago so there?s no need to dwell too long on it again tonight. Effective today increased excise tax on beer, rum, soft drinks and cigarettes will make the cost of these items rise, in some cases substantially. While it appears that manufacturers and retailers used the one-month suspension period to stock up on inventories at the old prices, at some point new purchases will have to be made. When they are, look for soft drinks and beer to rise by a shilling, Guinness by fifty cents and a pack of local smokes by one dollar and seventy-five cents to a whopping five dollars per pack. Retail price of most imported items will go up by two to three percent following a one-point uptick in the environmental tax, along with increases in the business tax.

In a release late this evening the NTUCB lambasted Belmopan?s rejection of its suggestion to raise the excise on beer to thirteen dollars and sixty-six cents per gallon, instead of four dollars as decided by government. The union umbrella group says it will initiate protest action in the upcoming days and weeks but did not specify what that action would be. For its part the Chamber of Commerce, despite its enjoyment of seven years of the most business friendly government in the nation?s history, endorsed the union?s stand for no new taxes and vowed to cooperate in joint protest action.