Energy price stability crucial to fight inflation, Prime Minister tells restaurateurs

Keeping energy prices stable will continue being a cornerstone of government’s economic policy, the Prime Minister told representatives of the catering industry.

In a meeting with the Association of Catering Establishments (ACE), Robert Abela said energy stability was crucial to fight inflation.

He was leading a government delegation that included Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo, Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul and Labour backbencher Omar Farrugia during a pre-budget consultation meeting.

“The government will continue to support businesses and families by maintaining its policy of price stability in the energy sector… it is important this support does not stop if we want to fight inflation,” Abela said.

Government has for the past two years subsidised the prices of electricity, fuel, gas and cereals in a bid to stave off inflation. More than €300 million were spent to keep prices stable over the past year.

Abela added that tourism figures showed increases, pointing towards a strong recovery after the pandemic. However, Abela insisted more work had to be done to improve the quality in tourism.

“We have to find a balance between quantity and quality to ensure a sector that is sustainable,” he said. “We also have to improve the skills among tourism workers… we also have to ensure that foreign workers, where they are truly needed, should be better skilled.”

The meeting with ACE is part of a series of consultation meetings the Prime Minister is having in the run up to the budget, which will be presented on 30 October.