These are the leading stories in local newspapers this Saturday.

Times of Malta reports that Justice Minister Jonathan Attard has ruled out holding any form of public consultation on a fast-tracked plan to revise magisterial inquiries.

The newspaper also reports on Transparency International criticising Labour MP and former minister Michael Farrugia, who implied in parliament that Malta’s low ranking on a corruption index was due to the organisation’s ties to the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation.

The Malta Independent leads with Transparency International’s response to Farrugia, writing that the organisation said Malta’s poor performance is purely the responsibility of the government.

The newspaper also reports that Malta is slipping down the EU’s minimum wage charts.

L-Orizzont leads with the prime minister inaugurating a new factory and with a General Workers Union meeting of its top maritime and aviation transport officials.

In-Nazzjon leads with a PN press conference in which MPs explained that the cost of a basket of essential items had risen by 37 per cent in less than five years.

The newspaper also reports that Labour Minister Owen Bonnici laughed when asked in parliament whether the government would be making the Cost of Living Adjustment exempt from income tax.