Labour leader Alfred Sant called on the financial authorities to publish a technical study on the implications of the introduction of the euro in Malta.

Speaking in Mosta yesterday morning, he said he was not bound by what the bankers were saying: that prices did not go up where the euro was introduced. However, he was bound to ensure that there was someone to protect the public’s interests.

Dr Sant said he was shocked to learn last week that the governor of the Central Bank of Malta had said the bank acknowledged there were certain consequences as a result of the introduction of the euro.

“What type of management can take such important decisions on the euro, when it does not even know what the implications will be?” Dr Sant asked.

The Labour Party leader said he would not allow certain facts on the euro to remain hidden away because the matter was of great economic importance.

Dr Sant said each country had to choose the best time to introduce the euro on the basis of two criteria: economic targets established by the European Union, and the country’s interests and how its people will be affected. He said both criteria were equally important.

He said he disagreed that the euro should be introduced when the country’s economy was stagnant, adding that by 1 January 2008 – when the government wants to introduce the currency – the economy will still not have recovered.

“That is why the Labour Party disagrees with the date chosen by the government. The euro should be introduced when the economy has a growth rate of four per cent a year,” Dr Sant insisted.

With regard to dual-pricing, and when it should start – on 1 January 2007 or 1 June 2007 – the Labour leader said the party agreed with the concept in principle but it had to be properly managed.

He said that since the government wanted dual-pricing to start on 1 January 2007, for six months the asking price in euro could be different from that decided upon in June 2007 when a final decision will be taken. Another problem, he said, would be the charges that would have to be paid to convert the euros into Maltese liri.

Dr Sant said it was true that the price of oil had gone up around the world and every country had been hit by the increase. However Malta was feeling the impact even more because the Nationalist government had done nothing to reduce consumption of oil in the country. Those countries that did something about the problem had a lower rate of increase in the cost of living than Malta has.

Dr Sant said the government had done nothing to hedge against the increase in the price of oil even though companies like Air Malta and Lufthansa did hedge.

The MLP leader also spoke about Gozo’s regionality and the Labour Party’s plans for the island: “A plan that will show that Dr Gonzi is not interested in Gozo as a region”.

Concluding, Dr Sant said the country wanted a change, and the Labour Party was ready to give the people what they needed.

Deputy leader Michael Falzon said the Labour Party would not allow the Nationalists to use Gozo to bring about a situation, similar to 1996, whereby a Labour government would need a constitutional amendment to govern.

He said the MLP agreed that Gozo should be considered a region but it would never allow the Nationalist Party to play around with the electoral districts just because it was scared it would not win a majority of votes in a general election.

Labour spokesman for infrastructure, Joe Mizzi said the biggest problem for the island’s energy sector was the lack of a serious plan. He said the government had never come up with a proper plan for alternative energy either.