No dollars no sales

and the most annoying thing is, those in power would also be doing so much better as well. But they are too greedy/stupid to realize that.

When VAT was brought in on bread basket we were told that having no VAT was not helpful and it was much better to have a social security system which would help those in need. Guess as normal that was just all talk as it appears that there still is no social security system in place. As always if this is such an important item Government should remove VAT, Business license and Real property from these grocers so they can provide goods at a much cheaper rate. They won't of course as it its easier to make the merchant seem the bad guy then the Government who is making a lot for doing nothing much.

Good news, as there can't be that many more people left who haven't been signed in by now.

If they were paying minimum wage, and this has now gone up, how are they to reduce salaries? This is fairy tale talk, thinking that just by saying you won't close that this will magically happen. of course if the business is profitable they will stay open. But if it is making a loss and this is then made worse over the next year they won't have a choice but to close. Unlike the Government who can run large losses every year, private business can only do that for a short while.

All politicians take us for fools. And based on the results in elections we are.

If it was that important to keep food cheap why doesn't government eliminate all VAT and duty on all food products. In addition get rid of any taxes on grocers (business license and Real Property)? They won't of course. Its just easy for them to do this so they can blame the merchants for the cost of food when they themselves have a huge impact.

Ahh yes blame the expat blue collar workers. Only an idiot would hire someone at more cost if there was someone here who could do it.

It will be more every year, as the only places left to build are flood zones. And even if there were hills we would allow them to be carved out to be a flood zone.

I am not sure if this will be a huge increase on businesses, as many don't have minimum wage employees, and if they do they are not a large part of the work force. Though i can see it may affect those who rely on gratuities and commission to make up the pay being affected (if they are not taken into account when working out the minimum wage). It will have an effect on those earning just over the new minimum wage, as any increase they may have got is now used by those below. The increase in BPL will be have a larger effect on them and this will lead price increases.