GWU urges 'freeze' of government induced costs

The GWU is calling on the government to freeze government induced costs for a period of time agreed between the social partners.

In Budget proposals announced today, the union also called for the creation of a commission formed by the social partners to discuss ways to raise productivity levels in Malta. The commission, it said, should lead to the drafting of an action plan "so that Maltese workers can attain the aspirations for which they chose to join the EU>"

The union also insisted that a fresh balance needed to be struck between economic growth and social development.

In other proposals, the union said that while inflation was low, the government needed to ensure that prices did not start creeping up again, particularly those involving energy and food. The government, it said, needed to immediately scale back the water and energy tariffs, and it needed to keep a lookout on food prices, particularly as prices increased abroad. The exercise to bring down the prices of medicines also needed to be kept up.

The union also called for incentives for investment in productive and innovative investment.

It said that tariffs charged by government authorities and agencies also needed to be revised, particularly in the case of SMEs.

In other proposals, the union said the banks needed to facilitate liquidity for businesses.

More proposals are expected to be issued tomorrow.