Price monitoring 'already in place'

A mechanism that monitors price movements has been in existence since 1996, the Competition and Communication Ministry said yesterday.

The ministry said market surveillance officers look closely at products' prices. It said inspectors have been going round businesses since February to ensure that prices reflect the removal of levies.

The ministry was reacting to a statement by Opposition Leader Alfred Sant who said there was a need for a "price watch" on the most important products. Dr Sant said this price watch should be maintained for a year until the changes in prices were stabilised. He said that families and consumers should be given a serious guide product by product to know what had happened and what would happen about these prices.

The ministry said that with the removal of levies on various products the consumer was benefiting from decreased prices.

It said inflation had decreased and last February it stood at 1.7 per cent. This was much lower than the average in the 22 months of the Labour Party government.

"This figure is very good compared to other EU countries and better than that of new member states," it said.

However, in his reply Dr Sant described the ministry's statement as "pathetic" and said that instead of being objective the ministry tried to feed the people propaganda. He said the reality is that the citizens are feeling the burden of prices in many sectors that were important to families' lives.

He said there were many price fluctuations and the government should take effective measures to protect families' interests. Funds to operate a price watch existed and could be taken from the over Lm300,000 that were voted for the Malta-EU Information Centre for this year, Dr Sant said.