KINGSTON, Jamaica – Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Julian Robinson, says Jamaicans are facing a cost of living crisis.

Robinson made the charge on Tuesday while making his contribution to the 2022/23 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives.

“Having spent the last two years battling the Covid pandemic, our country has been experiencing a cost of living crisis which is set to become worse based on the situation in Ukraine. The cost of living crisis is the result of significant increases in the prices of basic food items, increases in the cost of gasoline and electricity, and increases in taxi fares in an environment where many have not recovered financially or physically from Covid,” Robinson said.

“I am here today to deliver a message to the Minister of Finance: the price of food is too high, and the people are suffering,” he charged.

Robinson shared data, which he said was provided by the Consumer Affairs Commission [CAC] on price increases of basic food items over the last 12 months. He noted that when he shared similar data last year he was chided by the government and others for using figures and rates from actual retailers and not official government data. He said that while data from the government indicates that the annual inflation rate will be in the range of eight to nine per cent, consumers are faced with price increases significantly higher than that.

The opposition spokesman displayed charts that showed that between January 2021 and January 2022, basic food prices have increased by more than 40 per cent in some cases. These movements show that the price of hardough bread is up 22 per cent, chicken 26 per cent, cooking oil 44 per cent, corned beef 36 per cent, counter flour 32 per cent, saltfish 17 per cent and rice 38 per cent.