Labour leader Alfred Sant said yesterday that if today’s meeting of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development, which is discussing the cost of living, is going to be a serious discussion, it should look deeply into the importation price problem.

It had been said over the past days that there were indications that prices were rising, not at the level of distribution and retail, but at the importation stage, he pointed out during a visit to the Zurrieq marketplace.

He wondered why, and said that other countries which were with Malta in the free trade zone in the EU, all with the same parity with the euro, had a much lower rate of inflation than Malta.

The cost of living problem was remarkable, and in the most important sectors for the family it was rising much higher than in other EU countries. They need to see why this is, he said.

Dr Sant said that EU statistics showed that wages in Malta are far lower than in other EU countries, and in recent years workers in Malta and Gozo had seen their income decline, though it had gone up in other EU states. Therefore it was not the price of labour that was causing prices to rise in Malta.

The Labour leader said the inflation problem could not be eliminated altogether because part of it was due to the international situation. But if the government showed better leadership in this matter, instead of sweeping everything under the carpet, it would find solutions.

Measures could be taken which would rein inflation in according to the competitive rules of the market, and there were other measures which could be taken so that in the short term the consumer’s purchasing power would rise.