Wednesday, 24th June 2009 - 11:49CET
Cost of living creating economic and social problems - PL
The high cost of living in Malta was creating several social and economic problems lowering the people's standard of living, PL spokesman Charles Mangion said.
In a statement, he said that the latest statistics confirmed that the cost of living in Malta on a 12-month average was the highest in the EU and three times the euro zone average.
He said that excessive inflation reduced competitiveness because it led to unions and workers requesting wage increases. It also led to civil servants requesting increases, pushing up the government's recurrent expenditure without increasing production.
Dr Mangion said that while Malta's economy compared well to that of Cyprus - a similar open economy, between January and September last year, instead of moving closer to the euro zone average, as was done by Cyprus, the inflation difference between Malta and the euro zone average increased to around three percent after September.
Dr Mangion pointed out that inflation was highest on essential items such as food, energy, health services and education.
The main contributor to this higher inflation was the Prime Minister's decision to increase water and electricity tariffs to rates which did not reflect the international cost of oil.
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Once there was a government (way back in 1996) which resigned ... and gave the maltese majority the chance to move forward ... and that same majority is still valid for the next 4 years ... and do not come and tell me about the EU elections. Talk about winning/losing GENERAL elections, my friend.
The last political illusionist was Dr Alfred Sant , he used people like you to give us the impression that he has THE solution. He never had such a thing he was learning on the job.Readers should differentiate between what officially the PL sates and what is written by its elves.
That the cost of living is a cause of concern I fully agree , I also say that Dr Gonzi made mistakes during the economic 'storm' which hit the whole world. Given the circumstances I think that he didn't make many mistakes . Gonzi' mistakes do not automatically qualify Dr Joseph as the least bad option for PM.
Perhaps you are living in another galaxy because the EU itself introduces trade restriction through customs duties, levies and other measures on products from countries outside the EU. if it really believed in free trade then it would have done away with all restrictions, but it preaches one thing and does another.
Corinne Vella
Maybe you can try things, but what about service, spares, customer care which are nearly non-existent with local suppliers? To give you one example, a pair of vision glasses complete with a frame of your choice, polarized clip on, hardening etc comes to less than Lm14 when ordered on line? Local companies wouldn't even start when you compare prices.
"Large companies enjoy economies of scale and can afford to pass on some of their savings to consumers"
Likewise, local importers ought to be able to negotiate better prices than I can get with my on-offs and pass on the savings to local clients - but they don't. They never did, believing instead in a mentality that the prices are fixed as high as (what used to be) the captive market can take. Their loss, not mine.
In any case, at the time of bulk buying there was no internet yet, so the rest of your argument is irrelevant and does not hold water.
That is because you and I now have the freedom of choice that we enjoy thanks to successively electing a Nationalist government. Large companies enjoy economies of scale and can afford to pass on some of their savings to consumers via internet sales. Traditional retailers in Malta and the rest of the world are feeling the pinch and will continue to do so. One option would be to re-introduce state bulk-buying, price-control boards, and restrictions on internet trade – no thank you!
"Yawn. The cost of living is creating headaches to everyone everywhere all over the world."
Maybe so. But then, how come I can buy things via the internet, pay for postage and handling - yet still manage to pay a fraction of what I would have to pay were I to opt for (most of) the local importers? I am not a 'millionaire living in ivory towers'. I am merely a simple pensioner.
On the other hand, did we need to pay I don't know how many thousand euros to have the counting of the EP election done on private property, when gov could easily have utilised public properties? And that is but a small example of unnecessary spending.
Thank you. We knew all you said LONG time ago, since we experience it every day.
Now, please proceed to describe HOW you (and your party) will tackle these problems.
For example, give us the formula you would use to calculate water and electricity bills and outline method you will adopt to buy oil. There is no need to mention figures, since we will use this formula in 4 years (IF your party gets ELECTED)
Why don't you convince your Gonzi to resign and then you will know PL solutions.
With the high prices in the shops,bars,retaraunts etc,Malta is losing tourists in droves.
The number of tourists I have spoken to,who have vowed never to return to Malta,the main reason,the high prices
How does a Family in Malta,on an average wage manage to survive?
What you pay for a basket of shopping in a supermarket in Malta, in the U.K you could fill a trolley.
With its inflated ,over pricing,Malta is signing its own death warrant
To my friend Dr Mangion,however,I request what are we going to do about the situation when these same people are enquiring as to how on earth are we going to construct a new House of Representatives at MILLIONS OF EURO when MALTA DOES NOT NEED IT & THE PEOPLE WANT PEACE OF MIND & SECURITY THAT THEY WILL HAVE ADEQUATE SOURCES OF INCOME TO FEED THEIR FAMILIES & THEMSELVES: these are the SOLUTIONS the ELECTORATE wants to hear !
Dr Mangion is right that the main contributor to the increase in inflation was the increase in water and electricity rates. PL unashamedly exploited many people who were disillusioned believing that high subsidies should be maintained. The fact is that is you get a subsidy, your neighbour is paying for your consumption – totally wrong and unfair.
Rates were kept artificially low by keeping subsidies high. The government’s decision was unpopular but brave, discourages waste yet protects the most needy families in Malta. The pressure is now on for the management and GWU at Enemalta to be more cost effective and provide a better service.
Dr Mangion is pointing at the problem but he has no solution , if he had he would have said "The PL would decrease the bills by so much if it were elected" But Paroli Laburisti show us the problems but give us no solutions. Getting rid of Gonzi to have Joseph would not be a wise solution, it could have worked if we had Dr Gorg Abela .
I hate it when millionaires living in ivory towers try to champion the workers cause.
but MY personal opinion is that it is mostly the local importers that are to blame for MOST of the unbelievably high prices found locally,.
apart from the government controlled prices such as W&E bills and fuels.
i believe that it is all ONE CARTEL, a big monopoly to keep the prices higher than they should be.
food, medicines, clothes. these are expensive EVEN NOT CONSIDERING the local wages,,,let alone if you do weigh them into the equation. in this case malta becomes EXORBITANT.
and let no person try to explain that prices here are not expensive compared to Europe and the UK.
,,,, go ask some TOURISTS!!
my message is for government to investigate what is happening. to show that government is on the side of the people and not the big, strong importers!!