Food prices won’t rise, says ministry

There is no need for citizens to worry about food prices escalating in the near future because of drought and other issues which may be affecting the US agro-economy, according to the Ministry of Food Production. “The ministry will like to allay all fears that the Government may not act in time to curtail the rise in food prices as predicted by the Supermarkets Association on Trinidad and Tobago,” said Minister of Food Production, Devant Maharaj, in a media release.

It added: “A national concerted effort is needed to redirect our focus into import-substitution strategies and therefore act in the best interest of the welfare of our citizenry. “This will ensure we can properly shield against any negative impact that may arise from imported inflation.”

In an effort to ensure food prices remained reasonably priced several meeting have been held with various stakeholders, like the FAO, IICA, NAMDEVCO, SIDC, Sugarcane and Feed Centre, T&T Sheep and Goat Association and the Cunupia Farmers Association.

Citizens have been asked not to be worried about any drastic food price increase as they could “rest assured  the Ministry of Food Production is supportive of the local agricultural sector in keeping with our key mandates to reduce inflation, fuelled by food prices, as well as to reduce the food import bill.”