Close Menu
DemocracyGuyana.comDemocracyGuyana.com

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest news from DemocracyGuyana.com

    What's Hot

    Lamborghinis, Lies & Loot: How the Mohameds Built a Corrupt Empire of Fraud, Flaunted Wealth, and Ultimately Got Caught with Their Pants Down by US law enforcement, While Also Attempting to Buy Respect, Evading Taxes, and Being Exposed by the Truth

    May 30, 2025

    ELECTIONS 2025 SET FOR SEPTEMBER 1– PRESIDENT IRFAAN ALI HAS KEPT HIS PROMISE

    May 29, 2025

    From Sanctions to Political Office: The Audacity of Azruddin Mohamed—Guyana’s Biggest Political Joke. There are alleged rumours in Guyana that Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed will be extradited to the U.S. for trial.

    May 29, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • About DG
    • Join as Volunteers
    • Become a Member
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube TikTok
    DemocracyGuyana.comDemocracyGuyana.com
    Jet Global Airways
    • Home
    • Diaspora
    • Guyana News
    • Global News
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Business Opportunities
    • Advertise with us
    • Photo Gallery
    • Videos
    • World Newspapers
    • Contact Us
    DemocracyGuyana.comDemocracyGuyana.com
    Home»Featured»Interpretation and Analysis of the Consumer Price Index (Part II)
    Featured

    Interpretation and Analysis of the Consumer Price Index (Part II)

    Joel BhagwandinBy Joel BhagwandinNo Comments3 Mins Read1,622 Views
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Telegram Tumblr Email
    Joel Bhagwandin
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    The Consumer Price Index (CPI) comprises four (4) sub-group indices, namely (i) food, (ii) housing, (iii) transportation, and communications, and (iv) miscellaneous.

    As established in (Part I), the base year for the current CPI index is 2009. Accordingly, food prices have increased by 102%, housing prices fell by 1.4 percentage points (below the base year index), transportation and communication rose by 22%, and miscellaneous by 32.4%, since 2009. Overall, the CPI index, which is the average of the four sub-categories, increased by 43% since 2009, which means that consumer prices have increased by 43% since 2009.

    Source: Author’s based on Bank of Guyana Data
    Source: Author’s based on Bank of Guyana Data

    Credited directly to government policies, housing prices have fallen slightly below the base year.In particular, the government’s housing policy—targets low- and middle-income families. Thehousing programme does not only include heavily subsidized costs, including concessional mortgage interest rates, but also virtually interest free loans for first time low- and middle-income home owners, viz-à-viz, the Mortgage Interest Relief (MIR) programme.

    Food prices have increased, on average, by 7.3% annually over the last 14 years. This outturn is largely attributed to the direct intervention by the government, inter alia, policiesaimed at containing inflationary pressures.

    It is crucial to note that had there been zero intervention by the government since 2020, consumer prices would have risen by at least 3-4 times higher than current levels. In other words, it would have cost the average consumer 3-4 times more for the same basket of goods in the supermarket or traditional market place.Altogether, the estimated cost of government’s intervention to contain inflationary pressures amounts to an estimated $322 billion annually (8.5% of GDP) in direct and indirect subsidized costs for household/consumption expenditure. Of note, this estimated value is exclusive of two key policies designed to minimize the impact of rising costs, while increasing disposable income.These are: (i) the subsidy provided to first time low-income home owners (assistance with free building materials) and (ii) the Mortgage Interest Relief policy.

    Further, it is worthwhile to note that real wages have increased by 6.5 times or 539% since 2009. Notably, as shownpreviously in Part I, real wages increased by 60% in 2018 over 2017. This was on account of induced wage inflation in the petroleum sector, whereby the oil and gas companies and the tier-one subcontractors have been increasinglyrecruiting Guyanese, tripling their previous wages and salaries. Consequently, in the non-oil sectors of the economy, firms were/are forced to double and triple their salaries and benefits packages, competing with the oil and gas sector to attract local talent from the Guyanese workforce.

    Featured Top Right
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Joel Bhagwandin
    Joel Bhagwandin

    Related Posts

    Lamborghinis, Lies & Loot: How the Mohameds Built a Corrupt Empire of Fraud, Flaunted Wealth, and Ultimately Got Caught with Their Pants Down by US law enforcement, While Also Attempting to Buy Respect, Evading Taxes, and Being Exposed by the Truth

    ELECTIONS 2025 SET FOR SEPTEMBER 1– PRESIDENT IRFAAN ALI HAS KEPT HIS PROMISE

    From Sanctions to Political Office: The Audacity of Azruddin Mohamed—Guyana’s Biggest Political Joke. There are alleged rumours in Guyana that Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed will be extradited to the U.S. for trial.

    It is the opposition that is not ready for an election

    Posturing is important

    Shashi Tharoor’s Diplomatic Visit to Guyana: Strengthening Ties and Addressing Global Terrorism

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Top Posts

    What do you make of it? by Leonard Craig

    November 18, 2024744K Views

    President Irfaan Ali Emphasises Discipline and Accountability Over Project Delays

    November 13, 2024566K Views

    The Hollow Ambitions of Nigel Hughes: A Political Opportunist and Exhibitionist with Empty Promises.

    July 11, 2024100K Views
    Don't Miss

    Lamborghinis, Lies & Loot: How the Mohameds Built a Corrupt Empire of Fraud, Flaunted Wealth, and Ultimately Got Caught with Their Pants Down by US law enforcement, While Also Attempting to Buy Respect, Evading Taxes, and Being Exposed by the Truth

    In what is shaping up to be one of Guyana’s most disgraceful spectacles of deception,…

    ELECTIONS 2025 SET FOR SEPTEMBER 1– PRESIDENT IRFAAN ALI HAS KEPT HIS PROMISE

    May 29, 2025

    From Sanctions to Political Office: The Audacity of Azruddin Mohamed—Guyana’s Biggest Political Joke. There are alleged rumours in Guyana that Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed will be extradited to the U.S. for trial.

    May 29, 2025

    It is the opposition that is not ready for an election

    May 29, 2025
    Stay In Touch
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • TikTok
    • WhatsApp
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    Latest Reviews
    72

    Over 50 poisoned at wedding in Iraq

    8.9

    EAM Jaishankar Meets Guyanese PM Mark Phillips, Discuss Energy, Disaster Resilience And Defence Cooperation

    Most Popular

    What do you make of it? by Leonard Craig

    November 18, 2024744K Views

    President Irfaan Ali Emphasises Discipline and Accountability Over Project Delays

    November 13, 2024566K Views

    The Hollow Ambitions of Nigel Hughes: A Political Opportunist and Exhibitionist with Empty Promises.

    July 11, 2024100K Views
    Our Picks

    Lamborghinis, Lies & Loot: How the Mohameds Built a Corrupt Empire of Fraud, Flaunted Wealth, and Ultimately Got Caught with Their Pants Down by US law enforcement, While Also Attempting to Buy Respect, Evading Taxes, and Being Exposed by the Truth

    May 30, 2025

    ELECTIONS 2025 SET FOR SEPTEMBER 1– PRESIDENT IRFAAN ALI HAS KEPT HIS PROMISE

    May 29, 2025

    From Sanctions to Political Office: The Audacity of Azruddin Mohamed—Guyana’s Biggest Political Joke. There are alleged rumours in Guyana that Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed will be extradited to the U.S. for trial.

    May 29, 2025
    Popular Categories
    • Global News
    • Election Rigging
    • Sports
    • Special News
    Do you want to associate with us
    • Business Opportunities
    • Advertise with us
    • Contact Us
    • www.democracyguyana.com Guyana – London – India

      For more information, contact us.
    DemocracyGuyana.com
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube TikTok
    • Home
    • About DG
    • Become a Member
    • Join as Volunteers
    • Forum
    • Advertise with us
    DG BRANCHES: GUYANA, USA, CANADA, UK, CARIBBEAN, AND INDIA
    © 2025 DemocracyGuyana.com.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.