The GRTU Chamber of Small Enterprises in an angry statement this afternoon said the power tariffs for small businesses, as published by legal notice last week, were actually higher than the tariffs proposed on October 28, which had caused a storm of protest.

"The GRTU is once again appealing to the Cabinet of Ministers to come to its senses over this issue. Economic woes are on our doorstep, but rather than calling for subsidies for SMEs, the GRTU is appealing to the government not to continue to burden and obstruct such enterprises," the Chamber said.

It described the new tariffs as the worst possible Christmas present to businesses, warning that they would cause layoffs and closures.

The new tariffs, the GRTU said, made no sense in a climate of falling oil prices, other than that the government needed to find ways to make up for Enemalta's financial ills.

The GRTU also insisted that the government strategy of having 41,324 small businesses subsidising 531 clients, whose bills would be capped, was not only unfair, but in violation of the EU's Electricity Directive which did not allow such cross subsidisation. The GRTU said it was not against assistance to the large firms, but not at the expense of the smaller ones.