The price of traditional Maltese bread will
increase as from Tuesday, reported PBS. In a statement on Monday, the government said that small loaves will sell at Lm0.14, while large ones will cost
consumers Lm0.20.
The revised bread prices were agreed upon
during a Cabinet meeting on Monday, which also led to the government to
increase its subsidy on Maltese bread after hikes in international flour prices. The
subsidy will increase by more than 30%, from around Lm680,000 (€1,583,974) to
over Lm900,000 (€2,096,436) per year.
According to the government's statement, the subsidy will limit the increasing prices of traditional Maltese bread to Lm0.01.
The government said that the increases in Malta
came about following upheaval in international markets of wheat and cereals.
Among the determining factors for the increase are unfavorable weather
conditions, an ever growing demand for wheat and cereals from developing countries
as well as increased use of these products for the generation of biofuel.
To compensate for the Lm1.60 increase on each sack of flour, bakers had
requested the government to increase their subsidy on flour or, alternatively,
raise the price of each baked loaf by Lm0.02. Early last week, Karmenu
Micallef from the Bakers’ Cooperative was reported by The Times of Malta to
have said that bakers would stop making the Maltese loaf and produce just fancy
bread, the price of which is not regulated by the government, if an agreement
was not sought by Thursday.
On the government’s part, Minister for Competitiveness and Communications
Censu Galea said that more time was needed to study the situation.
An inconclusive meeting was held on Friday, prior to the final decision
taken on Monday.