AD’s spokesperson on the economy and tourism Edward Fenech said: “In the present circumstances the removal of price regulation in this particular case is an unnecessary and potentially inflationary measure. Liberalisation is likely to result in an increase in the price of the hobza that will have a severe effect on families with low to medium-low incomes.

“A fully liberalised market can only make sense when Maltese workers get decent European salaries which improve their spending power,” Mr Fenech added.

“Since the price for other forms of bread has already been liberalised the consumer already has a wide choice between different kinds of bread with fluctuating prices. Therefore the consumer would not be benefiting from more choice.”

Should the price of the Maltese hobza increase considerably, its production will be jeopardised as it will not remain competitive. This will result in the loss of one of Malta’s traditional foods which has been enjoyed by the Maltese people for generations, he added.

“In this case, liberalisation would not necessarily improve the quality of the product. In fact it could potentially be counter-productive as it would be possible for bakers to produce inferior and cheaper bread made from inferior ingredients in order to cater for clients with low spending power.

“In order to improve the quality, Maltese bread should be standardised in order to ensure that it conforms to the traditional way of making Maltese bread. AD urges the government to propose to the EU to recognise the name, method of production and ingredients used for making the traditional Maltese loaf as a product whose designation of

origin is protected in the same way as the Italian pane di altamura has been protected,” Mr Fenech

concluded.