Official: Sharp increase in prices in April

As Dr. G. Bonello Du Puis once said: You ain't seen nothing yet!!!!!

Currently I live and work in Ireland.Here wages at least are 3 times as much as in Malta! Cost of living is the same(even to buy property ) and if you go around shopping you can also save other money and products are genuine! The Electricity Bill is cheaper too! Got the picture?

NSO, who are you trying to kid???? Trying to blame, quote "seasonal price rises in hotel rates". Unquote. Hotel prices have ALWAYS increased as from April!! Low season is from November to March (exluding Xmas festivities period). Shoulder season starts in April. Always has, always will! What will happen once the "high season" rates come into force?? (i.e. in July and August)? Why try to fool the public? Truth is that prices HAD to rise as from April 2008. It was obvious to anyone who wanted to see it. The price "freeze" which Gonzipn so much boasted about was valid till March. Wasn't it obvious that prices would then rise, and rise drastically, as from April? And the worst is still to come..... but that is what the gullible Maltese public deserves. Just a few weeks ago we had superman Gonzi and his team boasting about "finanzi fis-sod"..... But that was pre-election time!! Further comments would be superfluous.

Apart from oil prices (went up by more than 40%), cereal prices have gone up by almost 50%!! This means hefty increases in pasta, flour, cereals and meat! The real problem is that the world has gone crazy with a couple of people getting rich by speculating on oil and cereals and the crazy push for biofuels from cereals - on the wrong assumption that it is 'green' energy - nothing further from the truth as the energy that goes in producing the cereals equals the energy produced!

The real solution is for biofuels to be produced from other, non food sources - wood chips, algae etc.

Ooops, I thought hedging contracts worked, in fact thats why the surcharge was maintained at 50% according to the Finance Ministry. Granted that oil and cereal prices are spiraling out of control. What is the government going to do about it? (not the MLP, the MLP is there to keep up the pressure on the government to act because that is its lawful duty in a parliamentary democracy). Should the government just sit back and place the burden on tax-payers in order to achieve its promise to have a surplus in 2010 (which is laudable by the way) without question? Or is it going to raise wages accordingly in order to counteract the inflation and the increase in surcharge? The price of oil in October 2007 stood at $90 per barrel and now, since May 9 of this year it is at $125 per barrel. Thats an increase of almost 40%. Quite shocking indeed seeing that it almost doubled. However the rate of inflation in Malta last year was 1.1% and this year 4.1% i.e. it has quadrupled. Is that not shocking?

OK, all you (PN goody experts)!
No reduction in taxes cause our economy has structural problems.
No reduction in VAT cause the Government finances are in one big mess.
No reduction in water and electricity surcharge cause the oil price is rising.
Can one just remind those that are suffering from amnesia what they wanted when Labour was in power and the oil price doubled overnight in 1972? Malta was the one and only country in Europe that did not have rationing. Price of petrol in UK was 3 times more expensive then Malta in them days. Now our petrol is 70% that of the UK, while our salaries are less then half that of UK.
Can one remind these experts in macro-economics what they asked for in 1981, when the world had one of it's biggest recessions and the streets in Europe were full of redundant workers due to the severity of that same recession?
INCREASE THE SALARIES they shouted. No one gave a damn about the damage to the economy in 1972 when we were getting £m2 and £m3.50 weekly increases for higher cost of living. In them days Labour inherited foreign reserves valued NILL!
Come on, the economy is in good hands and Government finances are healthy! Have you already forgotten what was said just 2 months ago?
You cannot accept one and deny the other, because we are going to have more and more people below the poverty line!
The solution during these last 10 years was - (Stampa aktar flus).
We are in a very, very big mess because the Government has been living beyond it's means!

It is really pathetic for those who posted here trying to involve MLP in a hypothesis just to put their conscience at rest, since they are part of the negative happenings cropping up under this government. They try to find an excuse for everything, but what is sure is that what MLP warned before the elections, it is materialising. Mud-sling? huh!!!
Hehe, Cowboy Gonzi, this week spat in the face of all those gullible persons who voted for him as he slammed the electoral promise of income tax cuts. Another promise gone with the wind.
Promise 1: Rebate on eco-friendly appliances...bye bye
Promise 2: Income Tax cuts ....bye bye
But we will still have people glorifying this government for these things, l-aqwa li mhux Alfred Sant, because if otherwise they would have let their bowels go loose at large.
H Farrugia, seems to be an economics guru, so he should give his expertise to his GonziPN government, altrimenti se ne va la lui stesso, as the Italians say!!! hehe

Oh yes, the MLP would half the surcharge when the price of oil is going up by an alarming rate, they would lower the cost of living ( wonder how would they do it). I bet my little dime in my pocket that shuld they have succeeded in doing it, all the Economic Ministers of the World will send for their ministers (MLP) to show them the way how to do it. Ma va la, as the italians say.!

TONY FORMOSA
The cost of wheat more than trebled in the last eleven months.Oil at a record high of $127 a barrel is causing headaches to one and all. Prices are going up everywhere! We all know this. Those who just dream that Malta should be spared an increase in the cost of living are just dreamers.
The MLP does not have a magic wand and let's admit. The increases would have been the same with them in power. The 'bulk buying' experience was not a solution as was clearly noticed.
Lessons may be deducted by Sant's experiment prior to the `1996
elections. The same shopping list cost £M5 more twenty two months later when he was defeated....from £M23 the cost increased £M28...that's a hell of a lot in a rather limited period.
And oil was only $12 a barrel and the supply of wheat and cereals was adequate.
If someone has a practical solution he should let it know to ALL European leaders and will certainly become a megamillionaire overnight.

It is pointless discussing as to what MLP would have done about the current situation... what is important is what is the goverment going to do about it

Moaners, what concrete solutions did the MLP offer to lower the cost of living against this price turbulence?

There were those that warned us what would happen after the agreement with the retailers ended in March. But Our glorius Prime Minister denied everything. More and More people will find out that as the PN lied to Hunters it will lie to anyone.

For G.Sammut....

We will see if the Pre-Election Promises were really worth more then the so called Mud-Slinging.....

Problem is that it is us Maltese who have to fork out the money!!! Anyway's we are getting used to that now....

Oh gee...I honestly thought the MLP were mud-slinging when they said the government should do something about the alarming increase in the cost of living. Oh what the hell...the government will be sure to compensate with an increase in surcharge and no tax cuts whatsoever. That will surely put more money in our pockets!