Dr Sant was addressing a press conference at the National Labour Centre in Hamrun yesterday, which was also attended by the party administration and the eight candidates contesting the EP elections.

In his address, Dr Sant said the government was constantly trumpeting the current drop in prices on pasta and wine while also trying to withold important information on the utter confusion that is currently going on in the whole system of retail price indexing. While acknowledging that some prices had indeed gone down to less than was expected, Dr Sant asked if this was a ploy to put people out of business and then raise the prices after all competition was wiped out.

The Labour leader also mentioned the agricultural situation where cheap prices were creating an unsustainable situation for farmers. Conversely, the stock of banana was creating a situation where the price of this fruit had shot up by 80 per cent, a clear situation that showed the government’s lack of will in the price war, said Dr Sant. He asked how the elimination of levies had resulted in a Lm9 million boost in the economy according to three statements the Prime Minister made. The Labour leader said the figure was closer to Lm6 million and that was thanks to the recent increase in VAT; the government was simply robbing Peter to pay Paul.

In a classic faux pas, Dr Sant said that the Prime Minister was receiving incorrect information from his Finance Minister, momentarily forgetting that Dr Gonzi holds both positions! The media was then handed a report outlining the inflation problem in the country with Dr Sant making particular reference to the rise in inflation rates. He referred to the government’s subsidy programme and said this was negligible when out of 100 tonnes imported; only around 3.6 would benefit from levy exemptions according to the Maastrict criteria.

Repeatedly accusing the government of attempting to hide things under the carpet, Dr Sant then proceeded to read from a letter received by an importer where it was outlined that meat prices were to shoot up

by up to three times their value in the coming months. He also referred to cereals and cheese which would almost double in price and the

system of ‘predatory pricing’ where a businessman is priced out of

competition.

Concluding, Dr Sant called on the government to stop waging this dishonest and deceitful campaign to lure the public into a false sense of security on the price situation and that a ‘Price Watch’ should be implemented without delay.

Asked by The Malta Independent on Sunday to comment on the explosion in property prices, Dr Sant said this had long been expected and the Labour Party had repeatedly warned about the rampant speculation in this sector that would follow accession to the EU.