A typical shopping basket worth about €151 (Lm65) has seen a five per cent hike between last July and this month, according to a study carried out by the General Workers' Union.
Speaking during a seminar on the euro organised by the GWU, secretary general Tony Zarb said prices had gone up before the euro was introduced, pointing out that even recent statistics showed that inflation increased to 3.5 per cent.
In a nutshell, this means, he said, that the cost of living increase given for this year is not enough to make good for the price rise on essential products, pointing out that it was high time the mechanism used to estimate inflation is changed.
"The strength of wages is constantly on the decline. What will happen when the agreement on prices expires in March," he asked.
The increases, Mr Zarb explained, were not only related to food items but also to health products and services.
Pensioners, in particular, were feeling the pinch, he said, pointing out that those who are trying to hide inflation are taking people for a ride. The union is insisting that a professional study be carried out at least six months after the introduction of the euro to investigate the effect it would have had on inflation.
A number of organisations were invited to participate in the seminar but the National Euro Changeover Committee (NECC) was not included on the list. NECC's executive consultant Alan Camilleri said it would have been interesting for the committe to be present.
On the study needed to take stock of the changeover, Mr Camilleri said such a report is being drawn up by the European Commission and Eurostat and will be published next month.
"The impression so far is that Malta fared better than its predecessors on this score but one will have the see once the report is finalised," he said. As for the figures cited by the union, Mr Camilleri said he was not suprised given the price hikes on a range of essential items.
"I believe the report we had presented to the NECC spoke of a three per cent increase. I stand to be corrected as I don't have the figures here with me but I believe that was the rate.
"We obviously covered a very wide range of products so I'm not surprised with a five per cent rate on what is probably a more restricted rate," he said, adding that he looked forward to have a copy of the report to compare with similar studies to see whether they converge.