After creating uncertainty by indicating a planned increase in electricity and water tariffs, the government has now let the axe fall on the economy and the self-employed by announcing the increase as from 1 January, Labour MP Gavin Gulia, spokesman for the economy and the self-employed said.

Budget number two, he added, will shock the economy, drive families up the wall and raise costs for the self-employed with an increase of at least 20 per cent in electricity and water bills.

Dr Gulia said the government was burdening the country when the economy had shrunk by over two per cent, the country had competitiveness problems, domestic consumption was weak and, according to Eurostat, prospects for the future were negative.

The retail and wholesale sectors will be worst affected, particularly those needing to refrigerate food day and night, such as grocers, butchers and supermarkets. The costs will be passed on to consumers, if the self-employed do not absorb it, to remain competitive, thus affecting their income and investments.

Dr Gulia said the new tariffs will neutralise the stimulus schemes announced in budget number one. Instead of a government which helps the economy, he added, Malta has a government which continued to squeeze it dry.