Official European Commission figures published today showed that eight European countries increased their price of petrol over last week. Seven increased the price of diesel, the Labour Party said.

It said in a statement these countries included Luxembourg, Poland and Sweden, three countries Opposition leader Simon Busuttil loved to compare with Malta.

The Labour Party noted that, according to the Commission, there was no EU country in which consumers were paying the prices the Nationalist Party was saying the Maltese should pay - 97c for petrol and 94c for diesel.

The PL said there was a 32cdifference for petrol and 24c difference for diesel between the prices quoted by the PN and the average prices 507 million EU citizens were paying.

It said it was only Bulgaria which had fuel prices for less than one euro, contrary to claims by the PN that this was the case in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The PN’s basic mistakes on fuel prices were the result of amateurism and lack of credibility. This was the same party under which the oil procurement scandal occurred, the PL said.

It said that in the two years of this legislature, the Labour government reduced water and electricity tariffs. It also reduced the price of petrol six times and that of diesel four times.

Consistent lowering of tariffs would be the policy this government would continue to follow in future, the PL said.