The power surcharge in perspective

The government and Enemalta have been extraordinarily inept in announcing the increase in the fuel surcharge from 50 per cent to 95 per cent, causing unnecessary panic among a large segment of the population.

In the shops, on the buses, on street corners, people roll their eyes and moan that the cost of electricity is doubling, indeed the cost of living is going to double! How on earth are we expected to cope, they ask.

Working out a calculation based on my last bill from Enemalta dated June 5, I find that the surcharge at 50 per cent amounted to €129.50. Had it been 95 per cent, the amount would have been €233.10, an increase in the surcharge of €103.60.

The total payable would then have risen from €398.44 to €502.04, an increase of 26 per cent - a substantial increase, agreed, but not a crippling doubling in the cost of domestic electricity as many are thinking.

This increase will of course also be reflected in the costs of goods and services, but again this particular item of cost is one of several others, such as rent, wages, etc., and will result in costs increasing, yes, but by a fraction (maybe substantial) of the 26 per cent increase in the domestic electricity cost. Indeed I understand that key sectors of the economy are exempted from this increase.

We live in alarming times with major world economies in, or about to be, in recession. Malta cannot be entirely immune to what is happening in the world but, to my mind, our country is in capable hands, and I feel confident that Malta will not be as badly affected as many of the large western economies. Ministers and the public administrators need to communicate better with the public and explain their actions, and the consequences thereof, so as to keep morale up, and douse scare-mongering with the facts.