Government borrowed €1 billion in month before election announcement, Borg says

The government borrowed €1billion in the month before the general election was announced, PN leader Alex Borg said on Wednesday, adding that figures published by the European Central Bank showed that Malta's public debt had continued to rise.

Addressing a PN campaign event in Naxxar, Borg said the government had tried to keep voters in the dark about the state of public finances and the National Statistics Office had postponed the release of financial and unemployment data because it fell on the eve of the election.

The NSO said the release, due on Friday, was being postponed because of reflection day, arguing that it could influence the political debate. 

But Borg said the ECB had nevertheless published figures showing that government borrowing had risen to almost €12 billion by April 2026.

“Between March and April 2026, in one month, the government borrowed €1 billion,” Borg told supporters, saying this had happened just days before the election was called.

He accused Finance Minister Clyde Caruana of trying to avoid scrutiny on the eve of the vote.

Borg said the issue went to the heart of credibility, arguing that Labour had no track record of solving the country’s biggest problems and had instead built economic growth on imported labour, overpopulation and debt.

The PN leader said his party had put forward clear plans on overpopulation, traffic, planning, the environment and quality of life.

Earlier in his speech, Borg pledged that a PN government would not allow the planned incinerator to be built near Naxxar, saying the party wanted to guarantee that residents’ health and the environment came first.

He said residents’ concerns had been heard, and he accused the government of making repeated environmental promises that remained “on billboards” rather than being implemented.

Borg referred to the government’s €700 million Project Green pledge, claiming that replies to parliamentary questions showed more was being spent on marketing than on planting trees.

He said a PN government would invest in open spaces in every locality, with the pledge included in the party’s electoral manifesto so that voters could hold it to account.

He also promoted the party’s “Aesthetic Malta” proposal, saying the PN wanted to improve towns and villages, starting with schemes to place facade wiring underground. Good planning should lead to development that is “pleasing to the eye” and improves quality of life.

Turning to planning reform, Borg referred to the recent Naxxar construction scare, in which families were evacuated after foundations at a development site gave way. He said the incident showed that under Labour, action was only taken once people’s lives were placed at risk.

He repeated the PN’s pledge to carry out a “holistic” reform of planning, including a review of local plans, which have not been overhauled since 2006.

Borg said the party would require a two-thirds parliamentary majority for changes affecting outside development zone (ODZ) land and would ensure that works could not proceed while appeals were still pending.

He said the reform would safeguard urban conservation areas and open spaces, and adapt local plans to today’s realities.

Borg also said the PN would give professional athletes a reduced 5% tax rate and would deliver a long-promised motorsport race track, Labour having failed to do so despite repeated manifesto commitments.

The event ended with the introduction of PN candidates contesting the 10th district.