The PN yesterday criticised the government’s “latest cash flow excuse” for keeping fuel prices much higher than the EU average and again called for a “significant and immediate” reduction.

Energy shadow minister Marthese Portelli told a press conference the latest declaration by Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi that Enemed had cash flow problems and so could not lower fuel prices this month was an admission that the government was keeping prices high only to address internal problems.

“We cannot understand the sheer arrogance with which Minister Mizzi is justifying the high price of fuel at Maltese petrol stations,” Dr Portelli said.

“He wants consumers to keep paying high prices in order to solve his company’s cash flow problems created by his own ministry.”

Dr Portelli said that while Dr Mizzi was having difficulties passing on some of the fuel savings due to lower oil prices to consumers because of the existing cash flow problems, he surely had no cash flow problems with his wife drawing a government salary of €13,000 a month. She said it was not acceptable that the government was playing with people’s pockets and had now decided to stagger the savings it was making when buying fuel at such low prices.

“Because the government already bought fuel at very low prices, Minister Mizzi has already declared he will lower prices further in March and April.”

This meant, Dr Portelli noted, that instead of passing all the savings at once to the people, the government wanted to use fuel prices as another political toy in an attempt to dupe the electorate at a moment closer to the local council elections.

She said that in order for Dr Mizzi to be taken seriously on the cash flow problems he said Enemed was experiencing, he should publish all the documents related to the procurement of fuel and the accounts of Enemed.

Enemed, which took over the former petroleum division of Enemalta, is a fully State-owned company established by the government last summer.

When set up, it had a fully paid share capital of €63 million.

According to the latest data issued by the European Commission, despite the recent 4c cut in fuel prices, Malta still has the fourth highest price of diesel.

Malta’s price of unleaded petrol, meanwhile, is the seventh highest in the EU.