Financial figures 'reflect incompetence'

The latest official financial statistics confirm the government's failure to control and administer the country's finances, according to the Labour Party's deputy leader Charles Mangion.

Dr Mangion said even the European Union has admonished the Maltese government for not addressing the problem seriously.

The MLP deputy leader said figures published by the National Statistics Office for the first five months of the year demonstrated the government's incompetence.

The government was trying to give the impression that it was controlling its expenditure and the financial situation. However, he said, current expenditure had increased almost as fast as income, by almost Lm12 million.

In an attempt to give the impression that it was controlling current expenditure, the government had slashed Lm3 million from productive investment, another Lm3 million from the infrastructure and Lm6 million from social investment.

"Instead of attacking waste, the government is attacking the sectors from which the country benefits most," he said.

The government's failure, he said, was confirmed when the government had to resort to an emergency measure of a supplementary vote without discussion in Parliament. The Prime Minister had approved supplementary expenditure of almost Lm19 million, Lm9 million of which was destined for the Foreign Affairs Ministry and another Lm4.25 million to fund health measures.

The MLP deputy leader said every year the Maltese people were paying more interest on the national debt. In the first five months of the year the debt had gone up by Lm3 million, reaching almost Lm1.4 billion, which, he said, was equivalent to Lm3,700 for each Maltese citizen.