The Labour Party has repeated the claim made by the GWU that the government will be the only one to benefit from the recent increase in fuel and gas prices through tax.

The government had denied the claim, saying fuel tax is a flat rate per litre.

In a statement, Charles Mangion, opposition spokesman for the economy, said the government needed to be consistent. It could not argue that raising power tariffs would be harmful to the economy, but then it allowed the gas and fuel prices to rise in this way.

These increases, he said, would undermine the people's purchasing power and also harm industrial competitiveness.

He insisted that the Malta Resources Authority should explain its costings and the government should use tools available to it to protect consumers, especially since the price of a 12kg gas cylinder, had risen fro €10.50c in August 2009 to €19.70, an increase of 88%.