§ 82. Mr. C. Smithasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the present figure of the cost-of-living index in the Seychelles as compared with 1939; and whether wages have been increased accordingly.
Mr. Creech JonesThe Seychelles maintain cost-of-living indices for two classes of wage earners, namely, town workers and countrymen. The index figures have fallen substantially since 1943. The increases in the cost of living over prewar for these two classes, as at the latest available date in 1946, were 128 per cent. and 139 per cent. respectively. Increases in wages amount to no per cent. in the case of town labourers, and 166 per cent. in the case of agricultural workers.