Ouch this hits home. Its still the case to today: many Maltese just depend on the government to figure it out for them.
As a result:
1. The government is the biggest employer on the island.
2. There are mandatory cost of living allowance increases every year decided by the government. Its always too slow and slightly too low. For comparison, the last COLA increase had 5% of it shaved off within a few weeks because local milk prices rose as a result.
3. The government has been subsidising electricity since the start of the invasion of Ukraine to avoid rising bills (historically it was a political football). WTO, EC, and other institutions have repeatedly told the government to wind them down but its repeatedly ignored this because any government which does will likely collapse in a few months.
Its a super frustrating cycle to see year after year and its not surprising to see that its been historically accurate too.
As a result: 1. The government is the biggest employer on the island.
2. There are mandatory cost of living allowance increases every year decided by the government. Its always too slow and slightly too low. For comparison, the last COLA increase had 5% of it shaved off within a few weeks because local milk prices rose as a result.
3. The government has been subsidising electricity since the start of the invasion of Ukraine to avoid rising bills (historically it was a political football). WTO, EC, and other institutions have repeatedly told the government to wind them down but its repeatedly ignored this because any government which does will likely collapse in a few months.
Its a super frustrating cycle to see year after year and its not surprising to see that its been historically accurate too.
Fwiw, I'm Maltese and in my early thirties.