Deputy Chief Minister, Senator Terry Le Sueur explained that:

“The Council of Ministers has been closely monitoring the effects of increased food and fuel prices on the public."

"We are having an additional meeting on the 21st August and have asked our relevant officers to provide us with a range of different options to help the public. Even if the local economy is not yet suffering a recession, it is becoming clear to Ministers that, no matter which social group you come from, the increased prices are being felt."

"We want to investigate all options we have within the States, and look at any public/private partnerships or schemes that we could initiate."

"Our priorities have long focussed on those people receiving Income Support. To date they have been protected from the increasing costs of GST by an increase of 3% on their Income Support payments; we also increased income tax thresholds by an extra 3.5% on top of the planned 3% increase."

"These measures were designed to absorb the effects of GST and we are eager to discuss what different options are available to us to address the significant increases in food and fuel costs over and above the increases due to GST."

He concluded: "We hope that at the conclusion of our meeting on 21st August we shall be in a position to formulate our preferred solution and present it to the States for consideration.”