Chamber of Commerce President  Tancred Tabone has renewed the Chamber's call for productivity gains to be part of the formula for the calculation of cost of living increases.

Speaking yesterday at the Annual General Meeting of the Chamber, Mr Tabone said the current COLA formula was one of the main issues hindering competitiveness.

"The MCESD working group in which we actively participated agreed to the inclusion of productivity as a new element in the COLA formula under review. However, we are still waiting for its implementation and we shall keep pressing for urgent closure," he stated.

Mr Tabone said businesses also needed closure on the issue of Eco-Contribution refunds.

"This time last year, a legal notice was finally published to regulate the payment of such refunds. But a year down the line from the legal notice and seven years after the first refunds became due; we are nowhere near receiving them. We appeal to Government for urgent closure of this saga," said Mr Tabone.