The government said this afternoon that the Cabinet discussed the new water and electricity tariffs this morning following the talks held within the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development last week. Presentations were given to ministers by Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt and Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said.

“Final decisions on the tariffs will be taken and announced in the coming days,” the government said in a statement.

The government will also in the coming days take its final decisions on the Budget .

“The government will be deciding on what investments will be made for the economy to progress in view of the current international crisis,” the government said.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, the government said that over the weekend, Dr Gatt had had several meetings with representatives of organisations which sit on the MCESD.

It denied reports that the minister last week told the members of the MCESD that consultations on the tariffs were closed. What he had said was that that was the last meeting on the tariffs.

Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said, on Friday, said the government was ready to listen to further representations.

There was therefore no difference between what Dr Gatt and Dr Said had said.