The Opposition Leader made a number of conclusions which either did not show the truth or else were completely wrong, when he compared the increase of prices for a number of products and services in the fields of health and medicine, according to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

Although he compared the increase of prices in the health sector in Malta with the average price in the eurozone, the Dr Alfred Sant concluded that what was happening in Malta was not normal.

“This is incorrect because the increase of prices in Malta compares well with that in many European countries. There are European countries that had increases more or less like those in Malta, while there were others that had increases which were much higher than Malta’s. Therefore what is happening in Malta is not an exception as the Opposition Leader is trying to portray,” said the OPM.

“The Opposition Leader has claimed that prices in the health sector have increased and that there wasn’t a decrease in the price of medicines as the government has promised. When he reached this conclusion he either wanted to mislead people, or he made a mistake as the measures he used included a wide range of products and services such as medical apparatus, tests and medical consultations which the government offers free of charge as part of its health service. Therefore his argument that the price of medicines in Malta has increased three times more than in other EU countries is completely wrong because it is based on the wrong use of statistics,” added the OPM.

“One of the goals the government wants to reach by joining the eurozone is an increase in competition, and the transparency of market prices. These together with the anti-inflation policies put into practice in the eurozone should help strengthen our country’s fight against inflation,” concluded the OPM.