PN: Food prices are rising and Labour is doing nothing about it
Ivan Castillo urges government to consider PN proposals on cost of living
Inflation is rising again and the prices of essential items like food, drinks and personal care products are up even more than the average, Nationalist Party MP Ivan Castillo noted on Saturday.
Castillo, who serves as shadow minister for the fight against the cost of living, said inflation data released by the National Statistics Office this week was bad news for local families.
The NSO this week revealed that inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index (RPI) rose to 2.4% in April from 2.1% in March and significantly higher than the 1.6% 12-month moving average.
Food prices were the biggest contributing factor to that increase in price movements, the NSO said.
Earlier in the week, NSO data showed that inflation was also up when measured according to the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), which is the EU-approved measure of inflation.
In a statement on Saturday, PN MP Castillo said the Labour government was ignoring the situation and embracing an economic model that was making things worse.
The government had even voted against a PN motion to tackle the cost of living, he said.
Castillo highlighted some of the PN’s proposed solutions to address the situation. They range from removing tax on the first €10,000 earned from part-time and overtime work, to making the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) non-taxable and offering employers tax credits not to raise prices.
The PN would also like to set up a national fund to provide aid to importers and exporters and refocus the national economy to encourage higher-paying economic sectors.