Inflation on unprocessed food almost doubled in December, balancing out a drop in inflation on other food items, according to the Central Bank’s monthly economic update published on Monday.

Still, inflation has continued to ease, dropping slightly from 3.9% in November to 3.7% a month later.

While food inflation has remained stable, rising marginally to 8.3% following sharper drops in previous months, the rate of inflation for unprocessed foods appears to be on the rise.

The index through which inflation is measured classifies food as either processed or unprocessed.

The latter, which includes meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, shot up to 12.2% in December - up from 6.7% the previous month.

Processed food, meanwhile, dropped slightly from 7.3% to 7.1% during the same period.

This news comes just days before the government’s Stabbiltá scheme - designed to reduce the price of 15 categories of food by 15% - comes into force.

When announcing the scheme, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri had said that the food types that will have their price reduced had been identified as particularly susceptible to inflation and were frequently consumed by the local population.

Economic confidence up, uncertainty dips across most sectors

According to the Central Bank’s report, confidence in Malta’s economy is on the rise, with the European Commission’s confidence surveys showing that sentiment in Malta is now higher than its long-term average, as calculated since 2002.

However, sentiment in the construction sectors and among consumers dipped in December, reversing the findings of the previous month.

Confidence in Malta’s economic performance remains higher than in the Euro area.

Likewise, uncertainty in Malta - meaning how confidently sectors can predict their future financial situation - is now lower in Malta than in the rest of the Euro area.

The report finds that uncertainty has dropped across several sectors, as well as amongst retailers and consumers.

The only sector in which uncertainty has continued to rise is the construction sector.