The finance minister should stop threatening businesses and instead ensure that the government does not continue to squander public funds, Opposition leader Bernard Grech said on Tuesday.

He was reacting to a speech in parliament on Monday where Clyde Caruana said he would insist that overdue tax was paid up. He also insisted that tax should be paid promptly and the government should not be considered as being an overdraft facility for businesses. 

In a Facebook post, Grech said the minister's comments showed how, after the general election, the government, if re-elected, was planning to increase the already heavy bureaucratic burden on businesses.

It would do so to cover the financial problems created by the government itself.

Businesses were already suffering the consequences of the government's mistakes and corruption, particularly the uncertainty which followed Malta's greylisting as a financial jurisdiction. 

But it seemed that the finance minister appeared to be happy to see his ministerial colleagues award a record number of direct orders which gave no return to the people. He was also continuing to back corrupt deals such as those involving Elecrogas and Steward Healthcare, or the way the economy ministry spent more than €30m to rent a former bathrooms showroom in Zejtun.