The St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture continues to work with businesses, members and non-members alike to assess the potential Impact of policy recommendations advanced to Cabinet by the Ministry of Commerce. Through the direct intervention of the Chamber, the Cabinet has agreed to provide the Chamber  with the required space and time to conduct an assessment of the Potential Impact of the measures on the business community.

In that respect a survey is being conducted and the analysis of the results will provide the critical information that should inform the Cabinet's decision.

Meanwhile the Chamber is also conducting an assessment of the Impact of the recent government decision to "suspend the 6% service charge being assessed on price control items and to remove the size limits on the price control items.

The Chamber has attempted to correct the misconception articulated by the public sector that the suspension of the 6% service charge will result in a 6% decline in the price of the select items. The Chamber notes that the service charge is part of many charges places in a compounded manner on goods entering the country. Therefore the effect will not be a direct 6% effect, in fact the decline will be lower depending on the weighting of the service charge in the total costs of the goods.

Moreover if the price of the goods or the shipping costs of the goods in question increase more than the effective decline in the (service charge) cost pf the goods, then the price will not decrease.

The global inflation affecting the costs of goods has meant that both consumers and businesses are experiencing increases in the cost of living and doing business. The Chamber will endeavor over the next few weeks to provide some greater insight into the factors affecting the increased costs being experienced on island.