MLP calls for plan to rein in prices

The Labour Party today urged the government to come up with an action plan to rein in inflation - repeating a call made a few days ago by the GWU.

The party said official statistics showed that inflation had risen sharply in March, even though the price stability agreements were still in force.

The MLP complained that price increases had hit essential items, with the cost of living in March rising at the second highest rate since the beginning of 2005. While inflation was rising abroad as well, the growth rate in Malta was faster, the MLP observed.

It welcomed the fact that the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development would be discussing the cost of living in the coming weeks, and said the government needed to go before the council with an action plan to ease the pressure on the people's purchasing power.

That way Malta would avoid a repetition of what happened in December, when the MCESD held another such meeting without the government revealing anything of what it intended doing.

The party said it was calling for proper protection for consumers and fair competition.