Bakers have asked the government for cheaper electricity rates at night in a bid to minimise their costs and so keep the price of traditional Maltese bread unchanged.

The Bakers' Cooperative yesterday met Alfred Camilleri, the Finance Ministry's permanent secretary, who did not wish to reveal the details of the meeting.

However, cooperative president Raymond Briffa said the meeting was cordial and the government "seemed to understand that we are doing our best not to raise the price of Maltese bread".

Bakers were planning to import their own fuel to minimise costs as they braced themselves to survive without government subsidies. The move was the latest in a drive to cut costs and fend off increasing competition from imported bread.

Mr Briffa said Mr Camilleri promised the government's assistance to ensure they would not find bureaucratic problems when they applied to be granted a licence to import the fuel.

Other requests made included the possibility of cheaper electricity rates for bakers during the night, which would cut their costs dramatically. They also asked for assistance to look into the possibility of running their ovens on gas.

Mr Briffa said they wanted to leave the option of increasing the price of bread as "a last resort".

Since the price of bread was last increased in May, bakers estimated that sales dropped by between 10 and 15 per cent. Following the steep rise in the international prices of oil and wheat, the price of bread had gone up by €0.07 to €054 for the large Maltese loaf and by €0.04 to €0.34 for the small loaf.

Consumers have clearly started turning to foreign products and the Maltese bakers have no option but to cut costs, even as subsidies have been removed.

The bakers wanted to see the cost of raw materials they used go down. At the current rate, in fact, Mr Briffa estimated that bakers would need to increase prices by €0.035 across the board to be able to cope.

He said the cooperative will be meeting the ministry again next week to follow up on yesterday's meeting.