The Nationalist Party has accused the government of failing to address the problems people are facing as the cost of basic goods spikes. 

On Monday, official government statistics confirmed food prices have gone up at their fastest rate in at least four years with the Retail Price Index showing an increase of 5.24 per cent in food prices. 

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, General Council President Mark Anthony Sammut, MPs Claudette Buttigieg and Ivan Bartolo said that instead of tackling an issue that is impacting families all over Malta, the government continued to spend taxpayers' money frivolously. 

"The government is not only not doing anything but public funds are instead being spent on those close to the government. Carmen Ciantar’s case is one such example. Karl Stagno Navarra and his job at Air Malta is another example," Sammut said. 

Ciantar, who serves as CEO of the Foundation for Medical Services and also managed Health Minister Chris Fearne's electoral campaign, is earning more than €13,000 a month for her FMS role.

Stagno Navarra, who leads a political discussion show on Labour media wing ONE, is also employed as Air Malta's head of communications. He has refused to disclose his contract with the airline. 

Buttigieg noted that people were rightly concerned and whenever PN politicians knocked on the doors of different families, the high cost of living seemed to be on everybody's mind. 

"I, like my colleagues, have been knocking on doors and meeting people and every person I meet talks about the high cost of living," Buttigieg said. 

She went on to refer to the government's recent supplement showcasing ministers' work and published in the Labour Party's KullĦadd Sunday paper. 

"Adverts, with the ministers' logos, lined some 32 pages. That means the ministers paid for this using taxpayers' money. One advert costs around €950  and the government had 32 pages' worth of adverts," Buttigieg went on. 

Meanwhile, Bartolo said that the PN had been urging the government to address poverty and prices increases for years. 

"We had been told in the past that we were trying to earn political points by exploiting the issue. God forbid we ever dream of doing that. 

"Instead of tackling the issue, [prime minister] Robert Abela and his government continue to give out to those close to the Labour Party and who already have more than enough," Bartolo said.