Consumers must have reliable information

Consumers’ rights in this country are still not in synch with those of consumers in the rest of the EU. This was once again proven when past and present public officials paid by taxpayers’ money made conflicting statements that must have confused many people.

The Governor of the Central Bank, Josef Bonnici, who is also an economist, questioned the “statistical fuzziness” associated with the publication of the most recent GDP statistics. Prof Bonnici noted that the GDP situation “could be different from what appears at first sight” and urged the National Statistics Office to split the build-up of stock from statistical discrepancies.

Put simply, the Governor has some doubts about the reliability of the measurement of this very important economic indicator.

The statistics chief, Michael Pace Ross, disagrees with Prof. Bonnici. He insists that the NSO has “the necessary technical expertise to come up with the best GDP estimates. GDP statistics are corroborated by short-term statistics and trade statistics”.

In a completely different economic activity, the CEO of the Water Services Corporation “rubbished” a claim made by former WSC chairman Tancred Tabone in 2010 that Malta’s underground water would run out within five years.

Mr Tabone in no uncertain way begged to disagree. He labelled the CEO’s remarks as “irresponsible”. “We can desalinate the entire Mediterranean and have water forever but, besides being expensive, logic tells us that if we have a free resource or underground water we should look after it,” Mr Tabone insists, while confirming that his predictions are corroborated by the expert opinion of a respected hydrologist, Marco Cremona.

No wonder consumers are confused and worried about how major policy decisions are taken when, for instance, there are such divergent views on the significance of official economic statistics or on the risk assessments on the sustainability of the country’s natural water supply sources.

At a time when taxpayers are becoming painfully aware about the effect of the global economic slowdown on their lives, the last things they want to hear are such divergent opinions on the effectiveness of the tools being used to plan the economic future of the country.

There are measures that can be taken to avoid this confusion in future. To underscore its independence, the collection of statistics could be moved to an agency that reports directly to the office of the President of the Republic.

The government should ensure that this agency is given the financial, operational and human resource that it needs to carry out its function reliably, free from all undue influence and in the most professional manner. This is one reliable way that not only the Central Bank but any ordinary citizen regains trust in published statistics that can have such significant effects on our everyday lives.

Similarly, public officials should be bound by a more stringent code of ethics that, among other things, discourages the eruption of unnecessary controversies caused by the bickering of present and past senior officials who serve in public organisations.

Thus, it would not be amiss for senior public officials to consult experts before expressing personal views that may not be based on a thorough professional competence in a particular complex technical area. This does not mean, of course, that internal debates on what particular strategies are best suited to address a specific economic or operational challenge should be discouraged.

The ultimate aim should always be a commitment to provide consumers with reliable information at all times.