The issue over the price of the traditional Maltese loaf is still unresolved, as no agreement was reached yesterday at a meeting between the government and the Bakers’ Cooperative. Discussions are expected to resume on Monday, a spokesman from the Competitiveness and Communi-cations Ministry told this newspaper.

The cooperative has threatened to halt the production of the hobza tal-Malti (the traditional Maltese loaf), the price of which is regulated as it is subsidised by the government, and instead only produce other types of bread.

Yesterday’s discussions focused on the bakers’ demands to either raise the subsidy on the production of the Maltese loaf, or raise the regulated price by two cents (EUR0.05) per loaf.

The cooperative had given the

government until Thursday to assess the situation, but a government spokesman said that, following new developments, discussions would continue.

This situation arose when the price of a 50-kilo sack of flour rose from Lm7.08 (EUR16.52) to Lm8.68 (EUR20.26).

However, as compensation for the Lm1.60 (EUR3.73) increase, and with bakers consuming some 7,000 50-kilo sacks per week, bakers are demanding subsidies that would cost the government in the region of Lm11,000 (EUR25,670.49) per week – or Lm572,000 (EUR1,334,865.59) annually.