Government has backed away from cutting or removing any of the taxes on petrol products which many blame for high prices at the pump.The alternative, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn declared, would be a decline in the public services that have kept many proverbial heads above the water in the COVID-19 pandemic, and curtailed capital works projects including a massive road repair programme.Straughn on Monday revealed that massive bills from the pandemic, the ashfall from the La Soufriere volcanic eruption and, most recently Hurricane Elsa, together with a $600 million falloff in revenue have left the economy in a “delicate” state. Exacerbating the already bad situation are price increases on the world market for basic commodities, including petrol, which has climbed to $3.99 and $3.16 per litre for gasoline and diesel, respectively, at the pump.