BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
Prime Minister Matthew Wale calls on businesses, state-owned enterprises and government agencies to reduce costs and profit margins.
Speaking at SICCI organised meet and great event at the Heritage Park Hotel on Thursday, PM Wale said that high prices are making life difficult for Solomon Islanders and slowing economic growth.
He said the rising cost of living remains one of the country’s biggest challenges and blamed excessive charges and high profit margins for placing unnecessary pressure on households and ordinary citizens.
He pointed out several major service providers, including Solomon Power, Our Telekom, banks and Solomon Airlines.
Wale urged them to review their pricing structures and put the interests of ordinary citizens first.
He questioned how some organisations could justify earning tens of millions of dollars in profits while many Solomon Islanders continue to struggle financially.
“Our government would look at reducing its own costs, including reviewing taxes and duties that contribute to the high cost of imported goods,” Wale said.
He described some government charges as unreasonable and said reforms will be considered to make business operations more affordable.
Mr Wale said that he recently met with Our Telekom and urged them to lower their charges.
He said that communication services remain too expensive for many people.
He also called on commercial banks to reduce interest rates to help more Solomon Islanders achieve home ownership and improve their standard of living.
Turning to tourism, Mr Wale said expensive airfares were discouraging visitors from travelling to Solomon Islands.
He challenged Solomon Airlines to make travel more affordable, arguing that lower fares are essential to grow the tourism sector and attract larger numbers of visitors.
Mr Wale said reducing the cost of living will require cooperation between government and the private sector to create a fairer and more prosperous economy for all Solomon Islanders.
Photo credit: SICCI
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