The Prime Minister gave no indication by how much planning authority tariffs will increase and when, but insisted that developers big and small will be expected to foot the bill of a reformed authority.

In return for a more efficient planning process, Lawrence Gonzi said after the Budget, people would be expected to pay higher tariffs since government did not want to "subsidise those who build".

"The reform is intended to streamline the authority and make it more efficient," he said, when asked whether applicants would have to foot the authority's wage bill and inefficiencies.

The Budget gave no indication of what the new Malta Environment and Planning Authority tariff structure will be, saying simply that government would not fund the authority, which would have to be self-financed.

Addressing the press after the Budget, Dr Gonzi and Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, said the energy compensation to make good for the higher water and electricity tariffs would be paid out by the middle of next year.

The benefit, which would apply for those families that consumed less than 10,000 units of electricity, will be based on the bills for 2009.

The tariffs drafted by Enemalta and presented to the Malta Resources Authority for verification and approval have not yet been made public but Dr Gonzi hinted that they would be in the same range as those of October 2008.

However, he insisted the authority be allowed to take its decisions without undue pressure, saying that was a lesson learnt from the contentious revision of bills in 2008.

When asked whether he was confident the MRA would approve the tariffs before January 1 to allow businesses enough time to plan their costs, Dr Gonzi said the principles on which the revision was based were already in place and this should help the authority take less time in deciding on the matter.

Dr Gonzi said it was an honour and privilege for him to put forward a Budget focused on stimulating job creation in a difficult year.

He said the €80 million incentive package was not a direct cash injection for companies but linked to their ability to create jobs and invest in their business.

The Prime Minister expressed cautious optimism that the deficit would be brought below the three per cent target by 2012 unless the general economic scenario took another major turn for the worse.