Fuel increases should not have been approved - GRTU
The Chamber of SMEs (GRTU) has strongly criticized the government’s decision to approve the latest increase in the price of fuels given the current economic situation.
In a strongly worded statement, GRTU’s director general Vince Farrugia said that it was unacceptable that all the talk on inflation and price control seemed to apply just to the small businessmen, but when it came to Enemalta, public regulators did not even seem to care.
He explained that the increase in fuel costs comes at a time when many small businesses have not yet recovered from the effects of recession and a number of enterprises were not to reopen following the summer shut down.
“This new increase comes at a time when all businesses were reducing prices to remain on the market, and as a consequence, businesses could pass on the increase to consumers fuelling further inflation,” Vince Farrugia said.
A recent GRTU survey among its members showed that they were being targeted from all sides, Vince Farrugia said.
The GRTU’s director explained that although the Chamber cooperated for solutions to be found, there could not be a situation where the strong reigned to the detriment of others.
“The government should help by encouraging consumption in a bid to keep the expenditure levels strong, and make good for the lower expenditure from the private sector,” he said, while adding that it was unfortunate to note that the announced fuel increases “demonstrated that those who run the country, have absolutely no idea of what they are doing.”
“At such times, the GRTU expected much better. It expected to be consulted by the regulator. The regulator was supposed to study and calculate the economic impact of increases proposed by Enemalta and come up with its recommendations. These were also supposed to be published,” a livid Vince Farruugia said.
"The government had to understand there was a problem and those who were responsible had to tackle it in an intelligent manner," he concluded.
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