It was advertised as a tax on the Bowen bottling empire but, once again, it's become a tax on consumers. Even before the statutory instrument increasing the excise tax was signed into law, on Monday Bowen and Bowen Limited preemptively hiked the price of its beer.
The new wholesale prices were advertised in this week's papers but what they didn't tell you was what it's going to cost you at the corner store. They list the control price of a 10 ounce regular Belikin Beer as $2.75 but there's no control being enforced at the corner store and shops we checked with are now selling a regular beer for $3 a pint. A premium Belikin, a Lighthouse Lager, and a Guinness Stout now costs 25 cents more at $3.50 a bottle.
These prices were similarly increased when the excise was raised earlier this year.
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