The Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise wishes to clarify its position in respect of a statement by the Opposition Leader on Sunday. Dr Alfred Sant was reported as saying that “Labour would give more power to the price control agency”.

In the light of the above, the chamber declares that its members should not be unduly harassed by price controls. A certain element of monitoring and control is necessary and acceptable provided that this is performed within reasonable parameters. However, if controls are excessive, they would merely serve to inflict added bureaucracy and inconvenience on the entrepreneur.

On the other hand, the chamber is a firm believer in free market forces.

The local market is mature and competitive. Such is the level of competition that if a company adopted a pricing policy which is not in tune with the realities of the market, it would be immediately out-priced from the market. The chamber believes that the free market is the best form of price control to the benefit of the consumer and the authorities.

Meanwhile, the chamber has been encouraging its members to join the “FAIR” initiative as well as to enter into binding agreements with the National Euro Changeover Committee (NECC), to assure level prices over the course of the changeover.