Guyana to hand out seeds for homegrown food production
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| Published on Friday, May 9, 2008 |
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GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AFP): Guyana has announced measures to boost food production and subsidies and wage rises to counter the impact of inflation on the South American country.
Some 600,000 packets of seeds, fertiliser and pesticides worth 100,000 dollars will be distributed across the country "in a drive to maximise food production not just on a large scale but at the household level," President Bharrat Jagdeo said Wednesday.
The price of wheat flour sold to bakeries will be subsidized to stabilize the cost of bread, Jagdeo told a news conference.
Twenty-two bakeries that supply more than 90 percent of the local market have agreed not to hike their prices in light of the subsidy, he said.
In addition, the government will purchase 200,000 kilograms (440,000 pounds) of flour to sell to the poor at a 25 percent discount, Jagdeo said.
The subsidy follows the scrapping earlier this year of a 16 percent value added tax on flour and several basic consumer items.
The Guyanese leader also announced a five percent salary increase for public sector workers and a small tax break for government employees earning 250 dollars a month or less.
The measures were announced the day before a march being organised by Guyana's main opposition party to protest the rising cost of living. |
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