Less than a month after the election, the Maltese people are facing a record increase in the price of diesel, which has pushed up the price of the commodity higher than that of petrol for the first time in history, the Malta Labour Party said in a statement.

Over the past seven years, since the price of fuel products started to change regularly depending on the international market, the price of diesel had more than doubled.

In 2001, for every Lm10 (e23.29), drivers used to get 50 litres of diesel; today they are getting 21 litres.

The MLP said that people who used diesel as an integral part of their employment have already declared that, through the increase in the price, the government was sending a message that they are free to pass the extra expense onto the consumer.

This means that thousands of Maltese families will not only have to face the increase in the price of diesel per se, but an increase in the cost of other products too.

The increase came at a time when government statistics showed that the country was facing a record cost of living increase. At 3.7 per cent, the rate is one of the highest the country has experienced in the last four years. Over the past year, the prices of food, clothing and medicines have shot up from two to nine per cent, the MLP said.

A recent European Union report said that the situation in Malta is an exception when compared to what is happening in other eurozone countries, the MLP added. The impact of the prices of food items on inflation was higher than that brought about by the increase in the international price of fuel, while there is also a lack of fair trading in the local market, according to the EU report quoted by the MLP.

All this put great responsibility on the government, which is duty bound to explain what is happening, and what it is doing to address the problem of defending the interests of the people. All the more so, considering that this rate of inflation was registered at a time when the price of 6,500 products was locked for a six-month period ending on 31 March.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech declared that no price fluctuations were supposed to take place after 31 March, yet on the same day the new price of diesel was made public.

There are also fears that the Lm1 (e2.33) weekly increase given in advance in the last budget has also been eaten away already.

The government should show its commitment in the fight against inflation, the MLP said.