Bread price fluctuations 'to be expected'

Fluctuations in the price of the Maltese loaf were to be expected after the market was liberalised last month, the Consumer and Competition Division said.

Bakers have started to gradually increase the price of the Maltese loaf as they try to make ends meet due to increased production costs and a drop in demand.

They have to cope with tougher competition from imported bread, which is popular among consumers even though it is more expensive.

Subsidies were stopped from January, although some aid is still available.

The division said bakers who use light heating oil were given a €2.27 subsidy for each sack of flour. A third of bakers use light heating oil and between them they produce about half the Maltese bread that comes out of bakeries.

Moreover, the division said, over the past two months bakers benefitted from a €1.53 reduction in the price of a sack of flour, a reduction of 30 per cent in the price of light heating oil and a reduction of €0.14 in the price of a litre of diesel.

The last increase in the price of bread, when it was still controlled, was last May, following the steep rise in international oil and wheat prices.

The price of a large loaf rose by €0.07 to €0.54 while the price for a small loaf went up by €0.04 to €0.34.

A bag of flour, which makes about 100 loafs, costs €22.62.