The struggle to make ends meet in T&T is getting more difficult as the cost of living continues to skyrocket. From rising food prices to increase in rent, taxi and maxi fares, citizens are becoming overwhelmed as they complain that their salaries remain the same while others have lost their jobs.
A year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic and social indicators show a deepening of the social and economic crisis. People being forced to cut back on how much they eat to more beggars on the street to children unable to travel to school because of limited funds are all symptoms of the crisis.
A student who lives in Kelly Village and who is affected by rising taxi fares as well messaged a teacher about her predicament.
“Hey, miss...Did you know that the transportation have (sic) raise prices...it’s like $15 to get out of Kelly now. I might not be in school for a while.” And this is just one situation highlighted.
Kiss Company raised prices on some of their products, the Port-of-Spain to Chaguanas Taxi Association raised fares, the Route Two Maxi association as also signalled that they will raise their fares, KC Candy, the nation’s top candy manufacturer also announced that from October 1 their product prices will increase among increases in other areas of the economy.
The official statistics have confirmed the fears of the population.
The Central Bank (CBTT) last Thursday attributed higher food inflation to increased shipping costs, transportation delays, and adverse weather conditions which have “led to a discernible increase in food prices.”
“The latest information from the Central Statistical Office shows that food inflation (year-on-year) rose from 3.2 per cent in January to 4.9 per cent in July 2021,” the Central Bank said in its latest Monetary Policy Report.
Core inflation (which excludes food items) remained relatively contained at 1.6 per cent in July 2021, with headline inflation measuring 2.2 per cent, but these could rise further in coming months in light of recently announced increases in transportation fares, the Central Bank stated.
‘I feel like I’m going into survival mode’
Jason, who preferred not to give his surname, uses public transportation to get to work in Port-of-Spain. He told the Sunday Guardian that he was not sure he can continue to work in Port-of-Spain for much longer as travelling from Chaguanas to the capital city every day has become much more expensive.
He believes that the taxi drivers between Port-of-Spain to Chaguanas are not justified in raising their fares by so much.
“This going to affect me in a big way. I work for a little above minimum wage and this means from now almost my whole salary will be going in travelling. I travel from Cunupia to Jerningham Junction, then a maxi to Chaguanas then I take a car to Port-of-Spain. With this new increase, I’ll be spending $60 a day in travelling.”
He said with the cost of living going up and dependants to feed every month, he does not know how he will survive.
“I feel as if I just working to pay passage and reach to work. Everything is raising except our salaries. I feel as if I’m just going into survival mode. I have all these bills to pay and mouths to feed.”
To survive, he said he was looking for extra streams of income.
“I surviving by the grace of God and I have a few things I do on the side to earn extra money. This is in the field of graphic design services. I have no other choice. For anybody to survive, a normal person must have two jobs. How else people going to survive?” he asked.
‘I’m cutting back to make ends meet’
Sandra, who preferred not to give her surname, said that she has a small catering business and that has been reduced drastically over the last years.
Now she has a smaller income and to make matters worse, the cost of living is increasing.
“I used to prepare food and sell the entire week, now I sell just on weekends as most people cut back on eating outside and are preparing their own meals. Over the last few months, I saw prices of flour, rice, and sugar rise. So I have less money and prices are going up from the grocery to maintaining my car to every part of my life.”
Sandra said she has a seven-year-old daughter who does online classes and she has to find money to pay the internet bill, she was forced to buy a new tablet, and she has even had to cut back on the number of items she buys in the supermarket.
“I used to have cable, I cut back on that, I now buy fewer food items in the supermarket...to try to save money.”
Sandra is not optimistic that the cost of living will improve any time soon and remains pessimistic about the future.
“I know some people who even had to cut back on their meals daily as that’s what they’re doing to survive. Others have to sell off some of their personal items to survive. It really hard out here. It’s pressure for poor people. This really depressing.”
Economists:
Prices will continue to rise, stretch your dollar
Reacting to the deepening crisis of rising prices and plummeting standards of living, economists have called on the population to stretch their dollar as they brace for more hardship. The years of plenty are long gone and the country must adapt to the lean times, the economists have advised.
Dr Ronald Ramkissoon
Dr Ronald Ramkissoon
Economist Dr Ronald Ramkissoon is not surprised that the cost of living in the country is quickly rising. He said anyone with a basic understanding of the global economy during the pandemic could have predicted this would have happened.
“If you look at supply chains locally and internationally, as a result of COVID-19 supply, these chains have been affected by a number of factors such as the global lockdown. That means that products that were available easily through smooth supply chains, those chains have now been cut or slowed down considerably and it has translated into products coming onto the market with higher costs and prices. Look at the closure of shipping lines.”
He believes that the situation will not last forever because as more and more people are vaccinated and more of the local and international economy are opened, the supply chains will return to normal.
Moving away from macroeconomics to household spending, Ramkissoon advised consumers to save their money and cut back spending on unnecessary items to survive.
“We have a responsibility to make do with a little and to stretch it as far as your money can go. Cut out the wastage we citizens have had during the years of plenty.”
Vaalmikki Arjoon
Dr Vaalmikki Arjoon
University of the West Indies economist Dr Vaalmikki Arjoon in an interview with the Sunday Guardian warned that prices will continue to rise in the short term.
“This is due to global supply chain issues creating shortages in goods we typically import, highlighting the need to be more self-sufficient and get serious about building the non-energy sectors. Last year, prices went up as many suppliers were shut down due to pandemic lockdowns, causing a global shortage of many commodities of food items, medications etc.”
He said the situation could have been worse for food prices locally but the competition to sell imported food items between several supermarket chains would have helped to marginally suppress some of the price increases to the customers, even though they are still higher.
A few key supermarket chains are offering special deals to assist the vulnerable–one is “plenty for $20” where several staple food items are offered at a large discounted price, he added.
Commenting on Kiss raising its prices, he said that market competition could help consumers.
“However, this could increase the sales for small bakeries across the country that offer prices lower than Kiss. It also presents an opportunity for supermarket chains to offer more shelf space for the bread of these other local bakeries that are cheaper for the consumer.”
He also spoke about the negative impact that increased maxi and taxi fares will have on the population.
“With the hike in the overall cost of living, it is no surprise that the cost of public transportation has increased. Workers in that sector will push up their fees as they are also enduring a higher cost of living and need more purchasing power to afford to feed their families through a higher income. Soon workers in other industries will begin to clamour for higher wages, to cope with the increased living costs, which does not only include higher food and medication costs, but also transportation costs.”