The MCESD is to hold a second meeting tomorrow to discuss the government's latest proposals on the water and electricity tariffs, the chairman of the council, Sonny Portelli said today.

The council held a two-hour meeting this morning, when it was briefed by Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt and Finance Minister Tonio Fenech.

The ministers did not comment after the meeting but representatives of some of the social partners said that while there appeared to be a willingness for consensus, no agreement had been reached.

The tariff proposals were announced earlier this month and ran into a wave of opposition from the private sector and trade unions, who argued that they would push up costs and could lead to unemployment.

The government has insisted it is not bound by the proposals, and it indicated that the new tariffs, which were originally to have come into force on October 1, could instead be introduced gradually over a two or three-year period especially for large enterprises which used to benefit from the capping on the surcharge.