Just as Barbados is being prepped for a 21 per cent increase in the fuel charge on our electricity bills, the world market price of the vital commodity, has fallen below US$100 a barrel. However, the price is expected to shift upward again.This is a poignant example of the fluidity of markets not only for crude oil and fossil fuel-based energy but for food staples such as grains, flour and oils. We know from experience that when businesses are forced to endure higher electricity and energy costs, it is the consumer who bears the brunt of such developments.Consumers in Barbados are going through one of the toughest periods in the past ten years as incomes have been under threat from job insecurity, retrenchments, and underemployment. Business owners too, have also faced a great deal of trauma.
