Admitting it had become one of Government's biggest challenges, Thompson said he was also convinced Barbadians were the victims of price gouging.

"I have come to the conclusion that there is an element of price gouging and the monopolistic structure of Barbados has led to this.

"We are simply going to do everything in our power to start the process of negotiations with other businesses and enterprises worldwide that may want to invest in the country in terms of the distributive sector in an effort to bring down prices," he said in a nationally televised broadcast on Monday night.

In addition, he announced meetings next week with "principals of one of the largest entities in the distributive sector in the United States . . . to work along with Barbadians in joint venture arrangements to seek to break up monopolistic structures".

Fielding questions from three members of the broadcast media Thompson said: "When you look at the pricing of many items you have to wonder how it is that people can shop in St Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago and get flour and cement at competitive prices and yet in Barbados something seems to be wrong that the consumers in Barbados are essentially being gouged."

(GE)