 29 Nov. - 5 Dec. 2000 |
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COS shoots down Dr Sant’s allegation The Central Office of Statistics (COS) on Tuesday issued a press statement saying that the Retail Price Index Management Board met yesterday in view of comments made about the Index of Prices. After the Board re-examined the Indexes which were published following the last revision on water and electricity rates in 1998, the board confirmed that it was satisfied the methodology used by the COS according to statistical science and confirmed the correctness of the Indexes as they were calculated by the Director of Statistics. Opposition Leader Alfred Sant had accused the Government of inflating figures to create the impression of a boosting economy, after terming the Budget as a failure as regards vision, social justice direction and leadership, last Monday at the House of Representatives first discussions on the Budget. The Business Times contacted Leo Brincat for comments regarding Dr Sant’s allegations. Mr Brincat said Dr Sant’s point was evident, and further highlighted by specific statistics, involving manipulated figures regarding Enemalta, the Retail Price Index and the Labour Market statistics. When asked what action the Malta Labour Party intended to take following these allegations, Mr Brincat said that the Party would take action according to the necessity and the situation. In the meantime the Chairman of the RPI Management Board has notified the Chairman of the Malta Council for Economic Development (MCED) that he as well as the Director of Statistics wish to meet with the members of the MCED to clarify comments made after the budget.
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