Sunday, 16th November 2008 - 11:57CET
Energy costs burden bigger on Maltese workers - Muscat
A litre of petrol cost a Maltese worker 15 per cent of his hourly wage, much more than the six per cent of the hourly wage it cost a British worker, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.
Speaking to supporters in Gozo, the Labour leader said that such were the comparisons that had to be made.
Malta, he said, had highest cost of living increase in the Eurozone, where energy prices were going down. The energy inflation rate in this zone between September and October had gone down from 13.5 to 10 per cent.
In the EU, this dropped from 15 to 12 per cent. The only exception was Malta where with the energy prices as they were before the new rates, energy inflation increased from 18 to 24 per cent. This was a direct burden on businesses and families.
Dr Muscat said that the price of fuel oil bought by Enemalta between August and October dropped by 28 per cent, that of gas oil by 22 per cent.
Moreover, the average cost of oil in October was practically the same as it had been in October last year. This was ample proof that the new tariffs were being introduced so that the government could cover up its waste of the past 20 years.
This showed that Labour, the party leader said, had a better economic vision for Malta. The question in all this, he said, was “where is Lawrence Gonzi, why is he not being clear”?
Dr Muscat said that the Labour Party completely agreement with Social Development Minister John Dalli’s statement in Parliament last Friday that the international crisis should not be used as an excuse for workers to be dismissed or to see their conditions deteriorating.
“On this, we agree with the minister completely. We have to work in a bipartisan manner in this sector,” he said.
The Labour leader expressed his solidarity with economist Edward Scicluna who, he said, was attacked because he criticised the government’s budget workings.
He referred to allegations that the personal details of people going to ministries, secretariats and government departments were being passed on to the Nationalist Party and said that the Prime Minister had a duty to declare was measures were being taken against those responsible for such espionage.
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Comments
The parking schemes are illegal because they discriminate between the different citizens. Challenge them and don't let arrogant local councils and the wardens companies skin you alive.
You argument does not hold. Distance in Malta vs distance in UK is a banal argument.
What we're talking about is increase in fuel costs, decrease in standard of living, rip-off on car registration taxes - whilst the price of crude oil is on the decrease. For many years car registration taxes were sky high. If you have a look at today's Times, the average decrease is that of 1,000 Euro. Everyone knows that car registration taxes are more hefty than that when buying new cars.One could argue better than nothing. But that's not the point!.
Perhaps you want to tell our friend, I Dingli how much you pay for parking on averages since he brought the issue of parking up in his post,,
@ Igalea. (another one with initials) : are you telling us that Enemalta oil purchasers work more efficiently under the MLP? Weren't we told ad nauseam on Super One that hedging was always the solution? Who would have predicted this situation three months ago? Talking with hindsight is easy , predicting the unpredictable is a big headache. Last September both major banks issued funds with investments in crude oil. No one thought at that time that there is going to be a recession and the price of oil will go down. I hope know-alls and politicians stay away from this office and leave the experts do their tough job.
It would be a safe bet if I tell you that BOV shares will go up 5 cents next week , but no one knows what the price of oil will be in six months.
As always it is your habit to shoot from the hip. Gonzi in the last 3 years not only reduced the tax rate but also increase the tax band. In total 152 Million Eoros have been left in teh pockets of working Maltese.
Can you tell me which countres have reduced the electricity prices. Do not forget to provide me with source.
In the UK recentley they cut the fuel prices by reducing the excise tax whichhas nothing with the price of oil on the International market. You also forget to mention that fuel prices in the UK have been much higher than those in Malta.
Yes true, Malta is a small country but don't forget to mention the fact that it is overcrowded with cars too. It takes me between 35 to 50 minutes (depending on the extent of traffic) to go from Tarxien to Gzira and another 15 minutes to find parking.
Than you have those localities where you cannot park due to residential parking schemes which keep on adding to the final toll of time needed to go to my work place.
"The issue I guess has to do with disposable income"
That is why people here are complaining because they are being left with no disposable income because while all the other world governments are decreasing fuel and electricity prices and reducing taxes to allow people to have more disposable income, your Gonzipn is doing exactly the opposite.
So it seems that for you, Gonzipn is the wise one while the rest of the world governments and leaders are stupid.
You do not wait until the last drop is in the tank to hedge. If your Gonzipn Government and experts are a reflection of your thinking and arguments, then no wonder we are in such a dire situation. It does not mean that you get all the oil at once, but you can hedge at least for six-months in advance, so that then you can average the price.
Your arguments also show that you simply want to defend your Gonzipn Government at all costs because you are not feeling the crunch in far-away Canada. Your Gonzipn arrogance also shows in your comments because you have no valid arguments to counteract the other arguments presented by other contributors.
Thanks for telling us to go back to zmien il-lampa u l-lampik, because that's what your Gonzipn Government wants us to do. One thing you can be certain of. We will not forget what your Gonzipn Government is doing to us at payback time.
Paying off the drydocks workers a golden handshake of 140 million euro is not what the taxpayers should have absorbed lightly. However, none of the unions seemed to utter a word when this happened. This was an economic sacrelidge and an insult to the Mal;tese taxpayer. What is happeneing now is that the government has found itself in dire straights with a self-inflicted astronomical deficit and again, is turning on the nation to solve itsincompetence. These things would not happen in Italy or anywhere else where the Nation had some spine to stand up to this.
And while we are being fleeced to the bone, the drydocks workers walk away giggling with a sum of money paid off by hard working taxpayers after these same taxpayers have been squeezed for years by the same government to brought us into the eurozone through four years of tax persecution.
That's for transparency and accountability!
When J. Cassar rightly quote and provide the source, then I will comment.
I didn't say that Malta is a heaven, but compared to the UK it is.
Uk is full with criminality. The economy is collapsing. Security is out of question. Its better to claim social services rather then work. etc etc
To succeed we have to do exactly the opposite that Blair and Brown did
Going to and from work in Britain often entails traveling much longer distances each day, therefore it is more expensive for the Brit than for the Maltese.
As always, Joseph mixes apples with oranges and sometimes throws in a lemon or two for extra zing.
@ J Cassar
What is undisputed is the fact that Joseph is not the Prime Minister.
@ I Galea
Good hedging is when the last drop of oil is in the tanks, then at whatever price, the government should place another order. While the order is being shipped, use candles.
@ J Abela
You are spot on. 230,000 have already left up to September this year.
Problem is - they all came back!
@ Paula Chetcuti
"... at least he has published his data". Wrong data based on wrong assumptions - not realizing that the data should be based on month to month or year to year!!
http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic
It has much to do with wages. In britain a lorry driver earns GBP 18,000 to GBP 22,000 per year, a factory worker earns somthing like GBP 15,000 to GBP 18,000, first year graduate professional earn something like GBP 25,000 to GBP 30,000. I can tell you tehy do afford it. In italy and france the average worker earns a little more than the Maltese counterpart, yet they also get factory bonuses which in Malta are only dreamt of. I tell you they can afford price increases and they got also crunched by the high oil prices. Yes people do have a reason to complain in Malta.
Oh come on Mr Seychell. Have you ever worked in Britain? The weather is awful but the people are wonderful and the jobs are rewarding. Britain is still a very strong country. Please think before you speak.
I am still waiting for answer from Minister Gatt in regards to the statement mentioned by J. Cassar in the comments below. Since you have so much at heart the various comments expressed by Dr. Muscat, can you please give us your view about this one too?
Just to show us all how fair you are in your judgment.
So smart alec can you tell me what wages have to do with the price of Oil?
The issue I guess has to do with disposable income. So in that context one have to take evertyhing into consideration and not just the cost of petrol at the pump.
May i also remind you of a Maltese saying, "Vapur b'zewg kaptani ma jimxix" So Please decide who the Prime Minister is, Dr. Gonzi or Dr. Gatt?????
Hedging is good if you use it well, but to have good hedging you have to have good people able to see when the time is right to buy, something which the Gonzipn Government doesn't have as witnessed by the dire situation in which we have found ourselves into.
Someone else said that there are lies, damned lies, and Gonzipn.
Joe Vella
Council tax has got nothing to do with petrol prices.
What proposals has Joseph Muscat offered to date?
When it comes to the Euro against the pound for every Euro is worth 85p and £1 is worth 1 Euro and 17 cents at todays rates.
Agree with you on one thing as this is exactly what will happen to however is trying to work hard, survive and trying to build up a family in the near future.
Don't worry soon lots of people will be forced to start packing up to leave Malta...
Just have a look around you....
Go ahead PM at full speed some people like getting whipped.
The UK is a failed country.
Blair and Brown, destroyed financially, culturally this once great nation.
British Citizens are packing up and leaving this miserable country.
So Yes Malta is still a heaven compared to Briton
What is Austin Gatt waiting for to do the same if he thinks he is more credible than the Opposition. It will be much more relevant if he do this instead of proceeding with his usual contradictions of what he said before the election!
I read and re-read this statement, but came to the same conclusion: Dr Joseph does not want to tell us that the British worker is paying €.30 more than us for this commodity. Oil prices are dictated by market forces and we pay for what Enemalta bought with its hedging agreements which the MLP vehemently used to advocate .Let's leave this headache to the Enemalta experts.
Dr Muscat is using percentages in other words "statistics". Someone stated that there are lies , damned lies and statistics . Shall we add "Dr Joseph's statistics" ?
Excise taxes on oil in Britian historically have been much higher than those in Malta. The price of petrol and diesel going down in Britian have nothing to do with the international market price of Oil. Dr. Muscat made reference to how the British Labor Government is lowering the price of petrol and diesel while the Maltese Government is increasing the same price. What Dr. Muscat didn't tell us was that the labour Government in Britian have kept the price of petrol and diesel historically high through much higher excise tax then that we have in Malta.
Dr. Muscat also failed to tell us that Britian is a producing country when it comes to oil