Food inflation 7.5 % in past year: lived reality much higher

Nov 03, 2025 Letters

Dear Editor,

According to the Bureau of Statistics, food inflation in Guyana stood at 7.5 percent over the past year- a figure government officials have promoted as proof that inflation remains “modest” and “under control.” Yet for the average consumer, that number feels disconnected from reality. At markets across the country, the cost of staples has risen sharply: a 10-kilogram bag of rice that once sold for $2,000 now costs $3,000; a tray of eggs averages $2,000; and a 10-pound gas cylinder now exceeds $5,000. Such price increases are not technical data points; they are daily struggles for thousands of families.

These increases reflect the erosion of purchasing power among working households, pensioners, and single parents who live paycheck to paycheck. The widening gap between official statistics and lived experience has deepened public mistrust. While oil production expands and the government celebrates record revenues, ordinary Guyanese are still battling to put food on the table. One-off cash grants and short-term handouts cannot substitute for real structural relief, fair wages, and sustained price stabilisation.

If the government truly believes in inclusive growth, it must close the distance between policy rhetoric and household reality. That requires more than slogans, it demands wage and pension reviews, effective consumer-protection mechanisms, and transparency in how oil revenues are used to curb the rising cost of living. Until then, the “modest inflation” narrative will continue to ring hollow for the very citizens it is meant to reassure. The people are not asking for miracles; they are asking for honesty, consistency, and relief that reach beyond headline numbers. If policymakers in government fail to recognize this widening gap, they risk allowing Guyana’s oil prosperity to coexist with growing poverty at the kitchen table.

Yours faithfully,
Sherod Duncan

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Food inflation 7.5 % in past year: lived reality much higher

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