Caribbean busi­ness­es are be­ing urged to ac­cept low­er prof­its on es­sen­tial goods as part of a re­gion­al pact aimed at shield­ing fam­i­lies from the ris­ing cost of liv­ing.

Speak­ing dur­ing a high-lev­el pri­vate sec­tor ses­sion with key Cari­com stake­hold­ers on Mon­day, Bar­ba­dos Prime Min­is­ter Mia Mot­t­ley called for a for­mal com­pact be­tween gov­ern­ments, busi­ness­es and labour to keep the prices of ba­sic food, san­i­tary and house­hold items with­in reach of or­di­nary cit­i­zens.

She ar­gued that while com­pa­nies are en­ti­tled to earn prof­its, busi­ness­es al­so have a re­spon­si­bil­i­ty to en­sure es­sen­tial goods do not be­come un­af­ford­able.