Inflation running at record high of 11.2%

| 08/06/2022 | 156 Comments

(CNS): The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 11.2% in the first quarter of this year when compared to the same period in 2021. All twelve CPI divisions recorded increases in average prices, with housing and utilities increasing by more than 20% and fuel by over 29% over the last 12 months. While residents of the Cayman Islands have been living through the impact of unprecedented inflation hikes for some time, the figures from the Economics and Statistics Office are finally reflecting that reality.

Everything on the CPI has gone up, with electricity bills, up by 35% since the first quarter of 2021, topping the list. Water bills increased by over 25% and rents rose by 19.7%, according to the ESO, though there are widespread anecdotal reports that rents have doubled in some cases over the last few months.

The cost of groceries went up, continuing a persistent increase each quarter over the last year or more. The official statistics reveal an increase of just under 5% in the price of meat and just over 5% for vegetables compared to last March, with fruits rising more than 13% and seafood over 10%. As hurricane season opens, the report reveals that people can expect to pay at least one dollar more for a tin of corned beef this year.

Speaking at the Royal Fidelity Economic Outlook Conference on Wednesday morning, just minutes after the ESO released the CPI numbers, Premier Wayne Panton said that, along with the issue of climate change, the main thing keeping him awake at night was the cost of living.


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Category: Economy, Politics

Comments (156)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Vote woke, get broke. (applies for here and in the US)

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  2. Anonymous says:

    CIG hould give first time Caymanian house builders duty concessions.

  3. anonymour says:

    Well MLA’s don’t need to worry. First thing they did was give themselves a huge pay raise more than double what some of us have to live on. I near it was $5000 a month extra each. Pensioners have to live off $1,000 a month no matter how much they have in their pensions. If they had a conscience maybe that would keep them awake at night. I hear people making comments like there are no children starving here. Sorry to burst your bubble but poverty is real in Cayman Imagine trying to live on $1000 a month or $6.00 an hour. It is a disgrace. What is your plan Govt. to ease the suffering of YOUR people who elected YOU????

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  4. Anonymous says:

    It is very difficult to determine if local price hikes in gas, food, utilities, etc. are due to real and credible negative economical factors or just vendors gouging. Vendors should be very cautious about trying to take consumers for a ride because we are not idiots, and I for one will boycott shops that are obviously taking advantage.

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    • Anonymous says:

      11% sounds about right with US CPI at 8.6%, given that power (from oil) and imports (shipped with oil) make up a greater % of our consumer prices and oil is up 70%… Not much room in there for any increase in local price gouging!

  5. Anonymous says:

    So what’s the plan. May I suggest a moratorium on large construction projects.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Government needs to find a way to bring food prices down. It is killing families.

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    • anon says:

      Why should they worry their salaries and pensions are increased each year by the inflation rate.

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    • Anonymous says:

      They won’t

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    • Chris Johnson says:

      As I said earlier. The government has made windfall profits on the increase in the price of gas. REDUCE THE IMPORT DUTY IMMEDIATELY. Thier is not rocket scientist stuff.

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      • Anonymous says:

        It won’t work as Caymanian businesses owners will refuse to pass saving cost from reduce duty fees.

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        • Anonymous says:

          They could not pass the savings along.
          But do they want to risk direct government policies and regulations onto their businesses?

        • Chris Johnson says:

          The utility companies and the gas stations are regulated by government and if our government controls these entities then any reduction in duty on gas should be effective. In my opinion this is the biggest problem we face.
          A reduction in duty on gas is absolutely essential to assist those in need. Some of us are lucky and do 5000 miles a year but those in End End and Northside must be really suffering particularly when they have to face heavy utility bills in addition to travelling to Gerge Town or West Bay to work.

          In the UK the government is subsidizing utility bills, so should our government if they do not reduce the duty. So by applying a simple mess test the government can resolve the problem.

          Assisting just civil servants is bias and totally unacceptable.
          Surely a backbencher can run with this issue.

          Sadly gas prices will go up again in a months time just as we are getting into the hottest time of the year.

  7. Anonymous says:

    The rise in the cost of living is absolutely unsustainable. The gas prices are ridiculous and affect those that can least afford it the most.

    How can any government live with themselves when their own countrymen can’t afford to live here?

    Not everyone can work in the financial/legal industries and all members of society should be able to keep a roof over their heads without fear of rental prices hiking up by $400 a month.

    The rental market should be actively regulated with rent control so that unscrupulous and unregulated landlords can’t disenfranchise their tenants any more than they already have.

    Government need to invest in a decent public transport system for buses that run on a regular and consistent schedule (not little mini buses that stop wherever they want), so that workers can reach work in comfort without burning gas in their car or having to leave home at 5.30am to get to work by 8.30am!

    When fresh food is more expensive than cheap junk, its no wonder many choose to feed their families what they can afford.

    Something (many things) have to give, as we’re currently caught up in a perfect storm that is threatening the lives of so many Caymanians.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Rent control is absurd. If you own a property and rent it out and then your cost of borrowing goes up, or there is suddenly high demand for properties, why shouldnt you be able to charge what you want? If a tenant wants certainty, sign a longer lease.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Greed is a sin. Rent controls in times like this are necessary and have proven effective in history.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Not true. Price controls on any goods or services will always lead to a shortage. Very simple economics. It’s a terrible idea.

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    • Anonymous says:

      10:33 – We are dealing with the same problems here in the United States. Stop making it out to be a Caymanian issue. It’s a global problem.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Sorry: no comparison. How are you going to compare the Cayman Islands to the United States of America’s????

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        • Anonymous says:

          I’m saying that the same inflationary pain is being felt by everyone here too. Your idiotic post states that inflation is “threatening the lives of so many Caymanians”. It’s affecting everyone, not just Caymanians. If you go outside when it’s raining and get wet, is it because you’re Caymanian? 😂😂😂😂

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          • Anonymous says:

            What is your point? This is a Cayman based new site to talk about issues affecting Cayman, not the USA. This is about the rise in inflation on an already eye wateringly expensive island.

            Of course there are plenty of people living and working here who are feeling the pinch, but the people it affects mostly are disenfranchised Caymanians.

            I’m British and have lived here nearly 15 years. I will have status soon, my kids are born and raised here. Yet if Cayman continues to go the way it’s going, the fundamental point is that I have another country I can go to. I have options.

            Many Caymanians don’t have that option because this is the only place they know.

            My point is about Caymanians because they’re the ones who are royally effed long term on this island, not the USA – clearly they’ve got bigger issues with out of control school shootings and the rampant desire to protect the 2nd amendment.

            Stop getting butt hurt – the point wasn’t about you…

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            • Anonymous says:

              Silly post. Quite obviously as we import almost everything from the US, US inflation currently at 9% is highly relevant to what we are experiencing plus additional fuel costs. You can run back to the UK if you like but you’ll find the exact same thing there too.

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            • Anonymous says:

              Do something else to score points with the cayman population. I don’t believe it’ll help you obtain that status.

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        • Anonymous says:

          What a silly comment. This global cost of living crisis and inflation is a worldwide issue… I’d argue right now it’s worse in the UK, Europe and the USA than it is in cayman

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          • Anonymous says:

            10:35 Thank you! 9:47 Does not understand the point or is purposely missing it to continue ranting on how inflation is only hurting caymanians.

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      • Anonymous says:

        You have a welfare system, we don’t.

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    • Anonymous says:

      To be fair our gas prices are still half the cost of the UK

  8. Anonymous says:

    Got my lil, fishing boat and my fruit trees for situations like this, solar next….low mangos !

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  9. Anonymous says:

    There will never be a scenario as long as the Government does nothing to amend the contract when it is up for renewal, that is true. Don’t blame CUC, blame the Government, again.

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  10. ELVIS says:

    Supermarkets soon be charging just to go inside.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    But there’s plenty of money to create cushy jobs for Eric Bush.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    CIG should watch the profits on these entities. Anything above (an adjusted) 2019 figure should be hit with a “Ivan Charge”… remember when they hit us with a random fee, yup? good! Now get CIG to grow a set and limit those profits.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    Cayman’s subsistence working class need a government labour arbitration panel aligned with their basic interests at heart, honestly supporting their labour contracts and advocating for their rights, independent of business owners and DCI conflicts. Some Trade and Business License holders are capitalising by raising prices/fees to customers, while simultaneously lowering pay to their “valued” employees, telling them to take it or leave it. We can’t treat the labour class with this kind of cruel abuse and contempt. This is happening now, and scales up either as supplemental crime with attendant social degradation, or as service paralysis. Certainly not good for our international reputation to discard loyal staff in this way. To be honest, many of our business owners are operating just a notch or two clear of human slavery charges, and that’s not right.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    I started to cycle to work, but after so many near misses decided it was too risky. I am sure there are many like me that would use an e-bike to go to work if proper protected bike lanes were provided.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Same. Cycling and scooter interest groups need to formally organise and petition for proper competent execution. Sad that it’s necessary. It is at least a function of entrenched incompetence, and perhaps outright theft at NRA. We have >200 days of sunshine a year. The partial “lanes” that were sporadically executed with our millions budgeted and paid for that purpose since 2015, are of varying widths and dissolve into hard curbs at traffic circles and district boundaries. No protective hardscaping bollards or recycled plastic armadillos. No paint. No stencilling. It’s almost as though there is nobody with any urban planning degree or any contemporary traffic integration background helming and signing off on our most basic infrastructure. Despite published plans and budgets paid to put these in, and blind to all the commercial PPP sponsorship opportunity. The Ritz uses the southbound bike lane for staff parking! Someone should be in jail for these stolen funds, and there should be $1500 tickets written for vehicles obstructing these corridors, if things made any sense…

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  15. Anonymous says:

    This type of runaway inflation is, generally, what finally caused Arab Spring.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I’d suggest food prices rising 60-90% for millions of people who were already on the breadline is slightly different from having to pay 10% more for the latest iphone.

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    • Anonymous says:

      No it wasn’t, closer to 100% inflation in basic foods

    • Anonymous says:

      Finally! Someone who is factually correct about Arab Spring. Bread is a staple at every meal in the region and when the price of bread increased to a point out of reach for the common family, the people rose up in protests.

  16. Kman says:

    They’re a cartel and will use every excuse in the book to hit customers with a 500% on goods. However the fall lays with Government(s)for allowing to get away with highway robbery.
    We’ve got to stop this money racket monopoly, maybe a 2 day customer business boycott will stop this nonsense once and for all,do it to the gas stations.
    Start investing in green energy, no duty on e cars,female/baby products, medications,staple goods, produce from Latca rim, breakup CUC monopoly and invest in local farming.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    My ex-employer before covid invited me back to my tourism job. I was getting paid $10 an hour before and paying $750 a month rent. They now want to pay $8.50 per hour and my rent is now $1200 and utilities have rocketed up. Take into account fuel and a car to get to work, costs of equipment I have to pay for to do my job, the insurance I have to buy, my professional fees I have to pay, my medical insurance, and I’ll have nothing left over to eat. Nothing. Been here 15yrs, my home and all my friends are here, my whole life is here, but I can’t afford to live here now. I’m actually scared for what the future holds.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Well “at least” you have some place to go. We “Caymanians have “no where to go”!!!

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  18. Anonymous says:

    Having over 90 percent of energy produced on island coming from fossil fuels was just making sure the island would get beaten by a much heavier and larger stick when the beating would begin.

    Keeping one of the greediest private entities in charge of power generation in charge , maybe save Enron, is part of the recipe for disaster that has been marinating unchecked for a very long time.

    It won’t take much more for CIG, the local red tape and associated ills to kill the goose laying the golden eggs , much like other choice financial centers that locals thought mistakenly would last forever (See Bahamas in the late 90s).

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  19. Anonymous says:

    So I can buy a leather bag and a watch at no duty, but I cant get groceries duty free? Their is something very wrong here. Duty consessions for millionaires to build houses no one can afford. What is this government doing for the people? You can give it to everyone else but to the people who live here. 27% duty on the car parts that get me to work, but nothing for a ring. I need parts to fix my car, a piece of jewelry is one of the worst “investments ” you can make.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Fin got $2.85 million is duty free concessions to build units for a monstrosity no Cayman can afford. That same $2.85m could have built 9 $350,000 homes free of cost to needy Caymanians. Rich foreigners bought those units. They could have afforded the little extra price those million dollar units would have raised by.

      What a shame.

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      • Anonymous says:

        how about they train said Caymanian to lay tiles or whatever so they have a useful skill instead of giving the entitled unemployed a $350k home free of cost. Then say thanks mr foreigner for investing in the economy and skillset of the population.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Thanks Mr. Foreigner for investin in my country by creating businesses that don’t hire locals, for helpinmg the realtors and surveyors to drive up the prices of homes so my children will be lucky to afford one when the time comes.

          On my knees I kiss your feet for the rewards of letting you into my country.

          What a kiss ass you are 8:35

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        • Anonymous says:

          That was just an example of what the government could have done with that money and I so happen to know a retired person who is handicapped in a home that could/should be fixed up but has been refused assitance by government because her son who has his own mortgages and bills try to help her with what little he has left over by paying her utilities and the government sees that as a reason to deny her help. But she’s an entitled unemployed so she doesn’t deserve help right?

      • Anonymous says:

        For historical refresher, the same “key” regime underwriters were involved in almost EVERY millionaire/billionaire development waiver since these began. What was their motivation, we might ask? Let’s please not spare any feelings in these illustrations, they certainly earned credit for the blowback on our misfortune and we need to remember these names for posterity and credit them properly: Sir Alden McLaughlin, Kurt Tibbetts, McKeeva Bush, Moses Kirkconnell…

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      • Anonymous says:

        You assume the $2.85m was passed on to the buyers. More like $2.85m straight into the pockets of the developers.

  20. Anonymous says:

    Has anyone else. Priced CUC trying to hide the price increases in bills by showing an increase in units used? I know the volume is the same and price per unit has increased, but why does my bill show me using way more khwt a month vs that month in 2021, when in reality it is the price per u it that has increased?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Or the fact that we pay for the fuel to make our electricty then get to pay for same electricty? Or the fact if you have 1,500 kwh a month, the fuel is charged against the full 1,500 and then we get an additional charge of the solar generated electricity charged against the FULL 1,500 kwh? So we are paying 3 times for the same kwh.

      According to CUC, I think like 4% of our electricty is solar. Shouldn’t it be 96% of our kwh charged against the fuel rate and 4% against the solar rate? Saw a post on facebook where someone calculated that this way is like $50 or so less than how they are charging now per month and with the 32,000+ customers (per their 2021 annual report) that’s what CI$1.6 million a month in free revenue that they get from the extra charging?

      Can someone who works at CUC explain this please?

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      • Anonymous says:

        CUC is an exchange traded publicly-listed company. If there are increased margins in solar they will take them eventually, but they have a monopoly insulated by legal agreement. They are not a public utility and there will never be a scenario where they give power away for free or not bake in their wide spreads on every part of the business.

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      • Anonymous says:

        I’m interested to see CUC’s next set of financials. The price of oil was this high as recently as 2014. I don’t remember the price of gasoline back then but it wasn’t $7 a gallon.

        Also, why aren’t they hedging these potential price increases? Oil was less than half of the price now in 2020. The usage here must be pretty predictable, at least to the point where they know a bare minimum required. They could have easily protected the consumers from this ridiculous spike in price. This is business 101 for a company like that.

        OffReg WTF?

    • Anonymous says:

      Hide price increase in units used? No my friend, unless you think they are targeting you specifically then the most likely explanation is you are simply using more, considerably less likely is your meter is broken and then there’s a very outside chance they have chosen you to fraudulently charge you for electricity you haven’t used. My money would be on the former, although you could ask them to check the meter if your kWh are way higher than the same month last year .

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  21. Anonymous says:

    If ESO, the same people who have told us for years that inflation is in the low single digits even when any trips to the supermarket or your monthly rent or utilities bill tells you completely different, say that it’s that high god only knows what it is. Scary stuff.

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  22. Anonymous says:

    When are we going to hear from the politicians what strategies they have to address the cost of living . How about they come up with some credible solutions to help the public with the soaring costs associated with living here. Maybe they could consider cutting import duty on essential goods such as food and fuel and ensure that retailers pass the saving on to the customer. Maybe they could extend the pension holiday to ensure businesses and employees have a little more cash at the end of the month. Maybe they could do nothing ( most likely scenario).

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    • Anonymous says:

      There is too much business interest and not enough consumer stakeholder interest. On behalf of consumer stakeholders, the government must intervene to supervise margins on essential items already priced far above fair and acceptable cost of goods. There also appears to be organized collusion amongst some competitor businesses in some industries to stay the course against consumers. That strays into conspiracy and should have legal consequences! Culturally, fair and honest governments must look out for the interests of their constituents, not scratch the back of select cronies in business. It’s all backwards in Cayman!

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  23. Anonymous says:

    Slaves, it’s only going to get worse

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  24. Anonymous says:

    And my pay has increased zero percent. Every day we are getting closer and closer to the poverty line.

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  25. Anonymous says:

    I have genuinely never been so concerned about my ability to stay in my own island until this last 12 months.

    It’s literally insanity how much things are costing, and salaries have not kept up.

    Makes me so sad.

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  26. Anonymous says:

    Y’all wanted PACT.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Sorry, this set of clowns is trying to be a little more funny unlike the last set that appeared in the circus.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Know your history man and how we got here. Decades of PPM and CDP maladministration is the founding reason why there is so much discontinuity in CIG messaging, practise, and civil service admin roster. If you want to start another party, please be our guest and do it now, or zip your backbench commentary. This “clown show” is still way better than any we’ve seen in decades because there are at least a handful of Cabinet trying to unwind some of the deeply engrained corrupt garbage we’ve lived.

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  27. Anonymous says:

    I’m the past 2 weeks at Fosters, a bag of four small avocados went from, CI$8.69 to $10.99 they are now $12.69.

    Most meats have DOUBLED in price. As someone with no children and does not buy, cereals, cookies, juices, milk, snack foods…..I ask in all sincerity , how are you affording to feed your family?

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    • Anonymous says:

      They aren’t eating avocados that’s for sure. There are cheaper options available that can work for families on a budget. Luckily, I never had kids (best decision I ever made though I do respect people who started families) so life isn’t bad at all.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Just bought a pack of 4 in England. Cost in a mid-priced grocery store was £1.29

    • Anonymous says:

      4:36pm… exactly I know of a non ”Caymanian, who has 6 children in the home – all attending private school – they just built a very expensive home and from what I hear They only work at menial jobs??? And this is only one I speak of who is living LARGE!
      Go figure this shit when most of us Caymanians are having it very, very hard!

  28. Anonymous says:

    … and Customs adding an illegal 1% surcharge for insurance on every single import…and duties which have long been relaxed on some imports but never get passed-on to customers….and over-regulation and unnecessary Government processes/fees….and the under-regulated real estate industry whose commissions serve to unilaterally inflate property prices…..

    ….and none of these have any impact on our cost of living??

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yes! This 1% for insurance is robbery. One of my items arrived damaged and I asked to claim on this insurance I had been paying for years. I was told there wasn’t any actual insurance, it was a theoretical charge for insurance they assumed I had paid for elsewhere! What nonsense is that? If I had paid for this magical insurance it would have been shown on my shipping invoice.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Charging duty on hypothesized insurance and CIG’s logistical “Tailgating” is not ethical.

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      • Anonymous says:

        In fact, it may be criminal fraud.

      • Anonymous says:

        Mind you, insurance that is illegally sold from unlicensed insurers doing unlawful insurance business that isn’t being brokered by CIMA licensed entities, so they sell the insurance and the consumer is taxed but the redtape is reduced.

  29. Anonymous says:

    Fosters & Kirk Market – Time to sharpen your accounting pencil’s.
    Kirk Market is selling teriyaki marinated beef on bamboo skewers
    for $32.99 a pound. Some items running 25 to 30% over the other supermarkets.
    Groceries here now on average running +100% of what it costs in the U.S. for a similar item .

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    • Anonymous says:

      Especially when you see them just filling the meat counter straight from a wholesale frozen bag. It’s not even like it’s fresh butchered or caught. It’s literally frozen crap they buy in bulk from distributors in the USA and then unpack and put into a fancy glass case and charge triple for.

      Disgusting.

    • Anonymous says:

      They all have to fund the imported poverty one way or another. Can’t rely on Caymanians for these jobs remember?

    • Anonymous says:

      no one has yet managed to explain why the CAB Tenderloin is like at $52.99lb and a Fosters is only (and I say that sarcastically) like $32.99lb

    • Hood Winked says:

      Please be fair to Kirks, they do offer price reductions on items past their due date, even if it’s described as a “special Offer”.

  30. Anonymous says:

    And the PACT Government just spent all day in Parliament amending nonsense laws which have no benefit to the general public. What a waste of a vote!

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  31. Radio Rich says:

    I’m genuinely interested to know at what point do people start leaving because it becomes too expensive, what are people’s thoughts?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Easy, the rich foreigners will stay and buy up the rest of our land so when we leave we can NEVER return. Win win for them, why should most of them care what happens to us. Governments of past has setup ways for them to come here and get richer circumventing the law about a Caymanian partner all in the name of “economic growth” and “global citizenship” when they don’t employ a single Caymanian, but then when you have companies *coughkpmgcough* like rotating out their staff for foreign staff at other branches around the world instead of hiring local they know they can do what they want because the governments of past let them.

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      • Anonymous says:

        There is nothing that prevents companies having staff on salary here , but working and getting paid to live in ( something stuck in my throat) Switzerland . Work permit requirement circumvented. At least they aren’t clogging the traffic here.

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  32. Anonymous says:

    Now is definitely not the time to give over paid elected officials extra money for paid assistants. They should also reverse their pay raises. Cut back or remove statutory board member pay. What are they really accomplishing anyway? If the general public has to cut back so should government with raises, duties for the near future so the people to voted for them can live.

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  33. Anonymous says:

    Reduce import and fuel duties!

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  34. Anonymous says:

    Time to lift the import duty on beer, wine and spirits.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Time to reduce or quit drinking. Alcohol is a group 1 carcinogen, same category as asbestos, tobacco, and processed meat. There should be thick warning labels on all of it.

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  35. Anonymous says:

    So what is the Premier going to do about the cost of living besides not sleeping at night and thinking about it?

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    • Anonymous says:

      He’ll have a think about it while he’s out fishing on his gas guzzling Hatteras.

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    • Anonymous says:

      He is sending his thoughts and prayers. That should solve all of our problems. Thank the lord for thoughts and prayers.

      Not sure if I can cash them in at Butterfield though. Anybody know of a high interest account I can deposit them in?

  36. Anonymous says:

    and wages remain the same

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  37. Anonymous says:

    Category 10 called inflation coming…sorry for those paycheck to paycheck…all of a sudden tha 50% debt ratio jump to 80% ….as salaries have not moved…..

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  38. Cheese Face says:

    It keeps all of us awake at night Wayne.

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  39. Anonymous says:

    Remote Work NOW

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  40. Anonymous says:

    Time to halve the civil service. The fees and duties required to support its waste and ineptitude have to end. So much could be automated and economically outsourced to the private sector.

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  41. Anonymous says:

    And yet we keep the minimum wage at $6 per hour, without even giving it further thought. Note even indexed to CPI.

    I dont know how people survive on that amount. If a business needs to survive off of $6 an hour labor, then that business shouldnt survive. Let the business to go others that pay a living wage.

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  42. Anonymous says:

    meanwhile cig continues to expand the civil service and spend us into bankruptcy……
    welcome to wonderland

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  43. Anonymous says:

    Life is much improved by quitting meat, dairy, and alcohol/cigarettes. Even if on a trial basis a few days a week. Socially cooler, better for wallet, environment, general health, and sex life. Food lasts longer, garbage doesn’t smell. No need to overthink easy choices.

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  44. Anonymous says:

    and cig response is…..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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  45. Anonymous says:

    Great news for unscrupulous and unregulated profiteers, bad news for employees and customers. When is PACT going to supervise fair dealing and social knock-ons of bad employers? Extending the pension holiday for business owners doesn’t fulfil the social contract of doing business in the Cayman Islands.

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  46. Anonymous says:

    Time to lift Import Duty on all Fruits and Vegetables and temporarily lift Duty on Fuel.

    It is unconsciously that the Government boasts of record revenue while the average Caymanian can not afford the basic necessitys.

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    • J says:

      So if they lift the duties on imports where do you propose Government make up for the shortfall in funds in the public purse that we expect them to take care of? Roads schools healthcare salaries etc etc? Not arguing just need to follow the thought process?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Stop waste! Stop paying prison officers when you catch them smuggling drugs! Stop handing out status and PR to people who contribute nothing and require government support!

        32
        2
        • Anonymous says:

          Stop the duty concessions to developers who make million dollar units that Caymanians can’t afford.

          23
          1
      • Anonymous says:

        Close down Travel Cayman fort a start. Totally unnecessary expense for a service no longer needed.

        18
        2
      • Anonymous says:

        CUC tax is supposed to go to NRA fund, but no transparency on that.

        3
        1
      • Anonymous says:

        Shortfall? They are massively in surplus!

    • Anonymous says:

      Unconscionable

      9
      1
    • Anonymous says:

      Em…It’s not just Caymanians who are feeling the pinch. Other residents have to shop at Hurleys, Kirks, Fosters, buy gas and get stung by the utility companies as well. And lots of us have to send money to help our relatives elsewhere also.

      31
      5
    • Anonymous says:

      No way Jose! Civil servants and MP’s get an emergency pay raise as we have a huge surplus so take care of those who take care of us!

      13
      4
    • Anonymous says:

      And par cooked meats. There is a 22% duty on prepped meats but not on some raw. Fine to accept an increase on luxury goods on my opinion. Relieve the costs on everyday staples…food and fuel pact!

      15
      1
      • Anonymous says:

        If the planet and sustainability mission matters, we need to quit meat and dairy, and propose actionable ways to park our cars. This is reset time.

        1
        11
    • Anonymous says:

      It won’t work as everybody knows if government cut duty fees….will these caymanian businesses owner pass saving cost to customers?

      13
      3
    • Chris Johnson says:

      Quite right. Government charged duty on oil when it was $30 a barrel. It is now $120 a barrel. Government is thus making a huge windfall profit from the utility and gas companies. That is just not acceptable. Mr Panton please for the sake of the Caymanian people pass this windfall profit onto the consumer. You can do that for both the utility companies and the gas stations. That is not rocket scientist stuff. Residents are getting into serious fimanancial difficulty as you have already recognized. Hotels of course pass these increases onto tourists and that is not good either.

      39
      2
    • Anonymous says:

      But sadly it won’t get passed onto us…

      10
      1
  47. Anonymous says:

    At least we saved all those people from covid……….

    35
    35

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