PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday met officials from the Private Sector as part of his government’s continued and committed effort to meet with various sections of society and groups to discuss the alarming rise in global food prices, the increasing cost of living around the world and their effects on Guyana with the objective of relieving some of the burden on Guyanese.

Earlier this week, the President met with religious Leaders on this issue, and yesterday he held discussions with members of the Private Sector Commission at the same venue - the Office of the President in Georgetown, on the same food prices issue.

A statement from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said one of the areas discussed was the need for the Private Sector to implement a similar measure as the one implemented last week by the Government in the case of public sector workers.

The President last week announced several interventions which his administration is making to ease the rising cost of living burden on Guyanese.

They include subsidising the 25 percent increase in the price of flour, a $4,000 tax free cost of living allowance for Government workers who earn $50,000 and less per month, and a five percent increase in wages and salaries for all Government employees - retroactive from January, 2008.

Following yesterday’s meeting, Dr. Peter De Groot, Chief Executive Officer of Fairfield Rice, explained that the meeting with the President “went well” with the Guyanese Head of State urging the business community to suggest additional methods which they feel could help to relieve some of the burden on their workers.

“Those recommendations were made and will be looked at,” De Groot posited.

He noted too, that Government’s ‘Grow More Food’ campaign was also discussed and the private sector was urged by the Mr. Jagdeo to ensure that they also assist in providing relief to the population in the hinterland and not just to those residing in Coastal areas.

This included reducing the cost of transportation for goods to be transported to hinterland communities.

It was noted that many other issues were discussed but that no specific agreements were made. These are expected to be made when the President again meets with the Commission shortly.

The interventions made by the Guyana Government to cushion the rising cost of living occurring around the world as a result of rising fuel and food prices have been noted in several countries internationally since they were announced last week, with Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)’s Regional Technical Cooperation Coordinator, Dr. Vincent Little, describing Guyana’s response as the best in the Region.