Prime Minister Joseph Muscat deemed “unacceptable” the fact that the upward revision in gas prices, which came into force last Tuesday, was not communicated to the public in advance.

Following the increase, the price of LPG cylinders increased by at least €1 and has reached the highest level since 2015.

Dr Muscat levelled his criticism when the Times of Malta this morning sought his reaction on this issue at the end of a visit at the National Audit Office in Floriana.

In his remarks, the Prime Minister did not mince his words and expressed his discontent on how the increase was handled both by the regulator as well as the Energy Ministry.

“I expressed my disagreement with the fact that the regulator only issued a statement with the revised prices in the afternoon. It is unacceptable that contrary to normal practices the increase was not communicated in advance. I already expressed this concern with the minister and requested him to convey this sentiment to the regulator as well,” Dr Muscat said.

Earlier, the Prime Minister met NAO chief Charles Deguara in what was described as the first ever meeting between a head of government and the Auditor General.

Both sides stressed the importance of safeguarding the impartiality of the National Audit Office which scrutinised and flagged irregularities within state entities. 

Dr Muscat noted that 90 per cent of the issues being flagged in the NAO’s annual report were being implemented. The rest were usually issues on which the government did not fully concur with the analysis carried out by the NAO, he said.