The most recent increase in the price of gas announced yesterday meant that Maltese and Gozitan families would now be paying 155 per cent more than they did just over a year ago.

This was an additional burden on Maltese and Gozitan families and businesses, the PL’s spokesman on utilities, Marlene Pullicino, said.

She said in a statement that the least the government could have done was to increase the energy benefit. However, this was not enough.

The government, she said, would be forking out a maximum of €745,000 to compensate some families but, according to the Malta Resources Authority, the increase was to mean an additional expense of €4 million a year for Maltese and Gozitan families.

The MRA also estimated that the businesses would see their expenses rise by 30 per cent without getting any type of compensation. Hotels and restaurants would have to face the increase in the middle of the peak season when their rates were already committed.

The increase on businesses would also further burden consumers.

This increase, Ms Pullicino said, came exactly after the Nationalist government made the people fork out another €30 million for water and electricity increases. Some of these families, she said, had not yet received their bills and this added to the uncertainety.