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NEWS | Wednesday, 4 June 2008 As food prices rocket, Labour tells government to take action The Labour Party yesterday charged the PN with taking families for a ride during the election campaign when Lawrence Gonzi boasted of having saved them €2.96 a week on food purchases.
Reacting to statistics issued by the European Union’s statistical arm on food prices, Labour said the figures confirmed the considerable problem facing families after Malta was found to have had the second highest increase in prices in the eurozone. Calculated on a 12-month average, food prices in Malta in April rose by 9.7% when compared to a year earlier – more than twice the inflation rate which during the same month stood at 4.1%. In Slovenia, the hike in the food bill was of 12.4%. Labour yesterday accused Finance Minister Tonio Fenech of rubbing more salt in the wound when he told people not to worry about the cost of living, since the measures implemented in the last budget were designed to help them cope. “Such a declaration, now that the EU statistics have been released, shows how much the Nationalist government is cut off from reality. “Labour is not ready to accept the government’s argument that the cost of living is due to external factors. Otherwise, prices would be increased at the same rate as that of the eurozone, with whom Malta has the most trade. On the contrary, Maltaa’s prices are increasing faster than those inside the EU.” Labour said a recent EU report had drawn attention to the fact that Malta suffers from unfair competition, and urged government to put into practice proposals by the Commission for Fair Trade to turn the Office for Fair Competition into an independent office, and equipped to deliver justice to consumers. Overall, food prices in the 15-member eurzone rose by 6.2%, according to figures released by Eurostat. The highest spikes in Malta were noted in the price of food items related to oils and fats which jumped 15.8% in just one year. In the euro area, these items rose in price by 8.3%. The cost of fruit, a major part of which is grown locally, also shot up by 15.4%, much higher than the 8.2% increase registered in the other euro area member states. Contrary to what happened in the euro area, where the price of vegetables was the only food item to fall in the past 12 months (-2.2%), in Malta it went up by 13.8%, the highest increase in the euro area. Other major increases in Malta were registered in the price of bread and cereals (+10.9%) and milk, cheese and eggs (+14.2%). The price of meat products increased by only 3.6%, the same rate as in the euro area. But again, the price of fish and seafood was more than that of the eurzone average, up by 7.1% compared to a 3.1% increase. Any comments? |
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