Muscat calls for energy prices guarantee - PL to hold conference on inflation

Labour leader Joseph Muscat today called on the government to guarantee fuel and gas prices to the end of the year. He also said he expected a favourable Budget with the government giving money back to the people to boost demand.

His comments came on the same morning when Finance Minister Tonio Fenech told The Sunday Times in an interview that the best way to boost the economy was through investment, rather than increasing disposable income.

"It is better to leave €10 in the people's pockets than the government's. When the people have money to spend, the economy moves forward, but the government is not realising this," Dr Muscat said in an interview on One TV.

But instead, the government last week announced massive and unjustified fuel price increases at a time when fuel in competing countries cost less. How could the government be credible when these increases, effectively a tax, were imposed at the same time as Mr Fenech said the Budget would include no new taxes?

The government, Dr Muscat said, had still not explained its costings, and one had to wonder what the Resources Authority was doing to protect consumers.

And the worse was still to come in that the governemnt had still not announced the increase in gas prices decided upon before the EP elections.

The government, Dr Muscat said, needed to guarantee energy prices at least in the short term, because what the economy was seriously lacking was certainty.

The government's economic incompetence, he said, was underlined by Mr Fenech himself when he last week said the economy had performed like a car with two punctures which was only able to move forward slowly. What the government should have done, Dr Muscat said, was to fix those punctures not cause more damage to the car.

PL TO HOLD CONFERENCE ON INFLATION

Dr Muscat said inflation was a major cause for concern, especially as local trends were the opposite of the EU and inflation was clearly local.

He said the PL this summer would hold a national conference grouping all policy makers, experts and operators to to discuss what action could be taken to reduce inflation.

He could not understand, Dr Muscat said, how the government had not reduced VAT on catering establishments as a means to boost demand and competitiveness, as long as this was reflected in a drop in prices, as France had done.

Dr Muscat said he was impressed how euro conversion had not led to a drastic increase in prices and said the same model needed to be followed. Having sustainable prices would, ultimately, benefit both consumers as well as retailers and importers, Dr Muscat said.

MEPA REFORM

On the forthcoming Mepa reform, Dr Muscat said the Pl expected real consultation from the government without having to plead for it. Indeed, such consultation should have taken place before decisions were taken. The reform, he said, should be based on consistency and the removal of arrogance, real or perceived, in the authority.

On the Bahrija Valley development, Dr Muscat said he did not believe this was a mistake and he expected people to assume political and administrative responsbility, in the same was as the PL expected people to assume responsibility for the corruption found at the VAT Department.

CITY GATE PROJECT

Dr Muscat said Malta needed a decent entrance to the City, and indeed, a masterplan for the whole City. He would let the people express their views on the proposals made, he said, and the government needed to heed the people, including the concerns expressed by shop owners and the concerns over parking.

The people, he said, wanted projects, but they wanted value for money and budgetary targets and timeframes which were observed.

Dr Muscat also spoke on the power station extension and said it was unacceptable that representatives of a bidding company spoke to Enemalta officials before the bidding started, and that the corporation's chairman was in the employ of the contractor who would be doing most of the work.