Flour price to increase by six percent

Georgetown : The price of grains including wheat has escalated over the last few months and it appears to have peaked at this time in Guyana. The severe drought in the United States of America and other parts of the world and increasing demands for food worldwide are the main contributing factors for the increase.

Last week the Jamaican flour mills announced an increase of 10-14% and other mills in the Caribbean have already increased prices.

The National Milling Company of Guyana (Namilco) has refrained from increasing the price for flour with the hope that these increases were temporary. The company claims to be buying wheat at higher prices and can no longer afford to hold prices steady.

There were discussions with the acting Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Irfan Ali on this issue and requested a 12% increase. At his request the flour company agreed to a 6% across the board increase with effect from September 21, 2012.