Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said this morning that the opposition welcomed the somewhat late statement by the finance minister on the soundness of the Maltese banking system.
Dr Muscat said at a political conference in Qrendi that all data indicated that there was no cause for alarm in the local banking situation. The opposition was therefore satisfied with the minister’s statement last Wednesday and was in line with it.
Dr Muscat referred to his visit to Tripoli last week and said he was positively surprised that the agreement the MLP had sought was concluded in three days. It was a breakthrough that Libya had agreed to set up two committees with the MLP, an opposition party, on Mediterranean policies and energy.
The MLP was committed to European policy, but Malta also had a role to play in the Mediterranean region.
In the energy sector, the MLP was seeking to create a framework on which it could build once it was returned to office. If that framework was set up earlier, the government was free to use it.
And he wished to again thank Dom Mintoff for his assistance for this visit, in the interest of the nation, Dr Muscat said.
He augured that when Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi again went to Tripoli, in a few weeks’ time, agreements would be reached in the national interest. The opposition was prepared to help.
The Labour leader referred to the proposed new utility tariffs announced by the government. He said that at a time of international financial turmoil, while governments abroad were bailing out their economies, in Malta the economy was bailing out the government.
What was the use of issuing a Budget consultation document which said nothing on the most important thing, the utility tariffs?
The MLP would in the coming days announce its own strategy on water and electricity, while also issuing its critical assessment of the government proposals.
The impact of the proposed electricity tariffs would be far more than between €1.5 and € 5 per week per family, as the government had claimed, Dr Muscat stressed. The government should correct its figures immediately.