Updated 12.55pm with the Finance Ministry's reaction below.
Robert Abela and Clyde Caruana have racked up a record national debt, with nothing to show for it, the Nationalist Party said on Monday.
Figures issued recently by the National Statistics Office showed that the national debt has exceeded €10.3 billion, the PN observed.
Prime Minister Robert Abela was responsible for nearly half of it, with the debt having been just over €5 billion when he succeeded Joseph Muscat.
"Although in recent months the government has continued to clash with professionals in various sectors, including educators, denying them deserved and long-promised pay increases, it managed to increase its own expenditure by no less than €800 million between January and November 2024," the party said.
This record debt was leading to another record, debt serving costs. During the first 11 months of the year, the government spent €235 million, or €42 million more than last year, solely on interest on the national debt. This translated to €710,000 every day.
The PN statement was signed by Graham Bencini, shadow minister of finance and Jerome Caruana Cilia, shadow minister for the economy.
PN criticism is selective and misleading - Ministry
The Finance Ministry in a reaction said the PN was very selective and misleading in its criticism of the state of public finances.
The party had focused on debt figures without reference to the wider economic context, not least the fact that more people were making more money.
Furthermore, it was not true that the government had turned down pay rises to professional categories. A record number of collective agreements had been concluded in a year, giving the best-ever working conditions to those in the public service, where spending had risen by 20%.
Malta was enjoying the highest rate of economic growth in the EU and the IMF and the European Commission were among the institutions which had made an upward revision of Malta's economic projections.
At the end of the PN government, Malta's debt was 70% of GDP and the government of the time had to impose austerity measures. The debt was now close to 50% of GDP and the current government was able to raise pensions and children's allowances to record levels, along with other social benefits, the ministry said.
PL reaction focuses on party financing
The Labour Party in a reaction did not reply to the points raised by the PN but said the opposition party lacked credibility to comment on national finance when it was not even able to produce its own pre-budget document despite working on it through the summer.
It would have been wiser for the PN to address its own financial issues instead of focusing on national debt servicing, which is under control, the PL said.
For example, it said, the PN leadership needed to see how it would pay back the millions due in bonds (ċedoli) which would soon mature.
And the PN still had to publish its audited accounts, despite its talk about transparency.
PL also pointed out that Malta's economic and financial management had been praised by rating agencies and the European Commission.