G.O.B. Places Cap on Fuel Prices, but Prices Went up Same Day
President of the Belize Bus Owners Association, Thomas Shaw was part of the meeting today with government and social partner representatives. He told News Five that while the government can put a cap on fuel prices, there will still be a domino effect on inflated prices of goods and services. Notably, News Five understands that the Government did place a thirty-five percent cap on the price of diesel last Friday, but the acquisition cost of diesel shot up significantly that same day.
Thomas Shaw
Thomas Shaw, President, Belize Bus Association
“They were talking about putting a cap on fuel but you see, if you’re going to put a cap on fuel, the Bishop mentioned – Bishop Wright said will there be a cap on inflation in terms of the stores as well? So holistically, they’re looking at it from both ways – all dimensional – whereas they can see how they can actually reduce the price of fuel. The question also came up – they said Puma was the sole supplier of fuel – so we were asking if they could find another entity whereas maybe they can find another source that can bring in fuel or where the fuel will be cheaper. The answer to that was nobody really has the port to bring in the fuel and Puma was the only provider at the moment and another thing came up about BNE but rally and truly, they are not in the position to supply the crude. In terms of the bus fares and all the rest of it, we will get a response by Friday.”
Marion Ali
“Okay, but in the interim, all you will get on Friday is a response, but you will still have time that will lapse before some action is taken.”
Thomas Shaw
“We explained to them that this consultation has been ongoing and right now we are telling them we don’t want this thing to exceed two weeks. So they said they understand our position, they know our plight, and they’re willing to work along with us.”
News Five spoke with Prime Minister John Briceño, following the meeting via phone and he indicated that the government is open to prudent recommendations that will be beneficial across the board. He indicated that the government did reduce the taxes on Diesel last Friday by thirty-five percent. However, when we checked with the fuel stations, they said that later that night, at midnight, the fuel prices went up. We also checked with Financial Secretary, Joe Waight who explained that the excise tax on Diesel was at two dollars and ninety-seven cents per U.S. gallon. The government reduced the taxes to a dollar and ninety-four cents per U.S. gallon last Friday. But the acquisition price still went up by eighty-five cents per gallon. Waight said that the Government of Belize absorbed the majority of the increase but had to pass on some of the increase to the pump price.
