NEWS | Wednesday, 12 December 2007

GRTU blames inflation on costs imposed by Government

The General Retailers and Traders Union (GRTU) said that a study conducted among its members showed that Government-induced costs are leading to an increase in the cost of living.
Among the items singled out by GRTU members were “unrestricted” bank charges and the administrative charges imposed by Government departments and Government-controlled entities such as MEPA, ADT, MTA and the Medicines Authority.
They also highlighted the “excessive” charges imposed by public and private monopolies such as Enemalta for electricity and fuels, GO and Vodafone for telephony, Freeport and Valletta Gateway Terminals for port handling, Federated Mills for flour.
Other factors identified as contributing to the increase in operating costs by entrepreneurs were the “excessive zeal” in the implementation of EU rules and regulations, additional expenses related to the Euro Changeover without compensation, and excessive charges for professional services like accountants and auditors.
On the taxation side, GRTU members complained about the “undue harshness” of the VAT department which, in their view, “is saddling those whose books are in order instead of capturing those who are evading”, and the tax on transfer of property for use by enterprises, which were deemed as “too excessive”.
In his presentation to the MCESD meeting last Thursday, GRTU Director-General Vince Farrugia explained that the prices charged by shops reflect the expenses that a businessman has to make to supply the product or service to the consumer.
“Hence when the Government and the public entities are doing all these inspections in shops, they are only studying the symptoms of the problem, not the causes leading to it,” the GRTU said in a statement yesterday.
It said that in most cases, the price paid by retailers for goods imported from abroad reflect the actual price of the goods on the international market, and the increases in costs are of local origin.
The GRTU warned that “unless the authorities are not going to study seriously, and take immediate action to seriously reduce the huge expenditure that every retailer has to make to cover everything with the price that one establishes for one’s products or services, it will be useless to speak about the curbing of inflation.
“A study about prices would be useful, however the important thing is establishing how to reduce the excessive costs that are causing an increase in the cost of living,” it insisted.