(adds comment by The Sunday Times' Mark Hodson)

Malta Tourism Authority chairman Sam Mifsud has requested remedial action by the travel supplement of the London Sunday Times which last Sunday advised readers to avoid Malta because, it claimed, inflation has climbed by 17 percent.

In a letter to the paper, Mr Mifsud said the information given about Malta by the author of the piece, Mark Hodson, was unfounded in fact and based on erroneous premises.

Mr Hodson stated that in Malta prices rose by about 10% following the changeover to .

Yet, Mr Mifsud pointed out, according to Eurostat, headline inflation, during and immediately after the changeover, was between 0.2 and 0.3 percentage points.

“An inflationary effect of between 0.2% to 0.3% constitutes nothing more than a negligible increase indeed, a far cry from the 10% increase indicated in Mr. Hodson's article.”

Mr Mifsud also pointed out that according Mr. Hodson's piece, the fall in the Sterling's relative value, when compared to the euro, added another 7% to the 10% inflation he referred to earlier, making Malta 17% more expensive in the space of four months.

“If the currency fluctuations have rendered the pound Sterling weaker insofar as purchasing power goes, then the same holds true for ALL the European Eurozone destinations and not just Malta,” Mr Mifsud said.

“One must naturally conclude that Mr. Hodson was given incorrect facts and figures to begin with. This has been further compounded by the fact that Malta was singled out for particularly harsh treatment in respect of the Sterling's fall in value vis-à-vis the euro.”