VALLETTA, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- More than 400 shops throughout Malta have agreed to lower the price of some 450 food products by at least 15 percent from Thursday, according to a statement released by the Economy Ministry.

       The move is part of the government's scheme to stabilize food prices. The price control measures will be in place until the government announces the 2025 budget in October.

       The affected products include some of the major food, such as spaghetti and penne, corned beef, tuna in vegetable or soya oil, fresh and frozen pork chops and chicken legs, tea and instant coffee, frozen peas, broccoli, and spinach, straight-cut frozen friable French fries and long-life milk.

       Small stores, which do not have a sales revenue of more than 800,000 euros a year, will be given 125 euros per month by the government to compensate for the voluntary reduction in profits.

       This is a historic agreement between the government, food importers and shops, aiming to ensure price stability in the country, Silvio Schembri, minister for the economy, enterprise and strategic projects, said in a statement.

       He said the initiative will boost the purchasing power of families and the government is taking other measures to tackle inflation, such as subsidizing energy prices.