Finance Minister Edward Scicluna welcomed the confirmation by Eurostat and the National Statistics Office that the government had ended 2013 with a deficit rate of 2.8 per cent.

It is a huge success not only for the government but also for the whole country. It shows that the government had changed the way the country was going, taking the road to financial stability and economic expansion, Prof. Scicluna said.

The previous administration was taking the country downhill, going into the excessive deficit procedure because of high spending which took the deficit up to 3.3 per cent, he added.

The result was achieved in spite of the forecasts by the European Commission and some credit ratings agencies. Prof. Scicluna said the result nullifies the negative arguments the Opposition has been making about the financial and economic situation of the country.

This government, he said, had managed to do what the previous administration had not done.

The spokesmen for the Nationalist Party, deputy leader Mario de Marco and Tonio Fenech, however, said the figures published yesterday raised more questions than gave answers.

The Eurostat figures show that while the deficit for 2013 had gone down to 2.8 per cent, or about €200 million, the country’s debt had expanded by 5.2 per cent, or €373 million. The government, the PN spokesmen said, should give a clear explanation for this substantial discrepancy in the figures.

They added that Prof. Scicluna should give details about how and where the losses were being reported which Arriva had made and which have now passed to the government. Till now he has refused to give the amount of losses. The minister should also say how he would be making good for the subsidy for the new public transport company, which would be rising drastically from €10 million. 

While it was clear that the government has money to squander and for perks for its inner circle, this does not apply for the health sector, which seems to be Minister Scicluna’s target for him to achieve his aims.

In light of all the doubts raised by the statistics just published, the spokesmen said, the finance minister, or the Prime Minister should, in respect of transparency and accountability, call a news conference to give the opportunity to the media to do their job, and clear the doubts raised by the few details just published.

Malta was not doing better than a year ago in running the country’s finances, and this was a clear sign of Minister Scicluna’s incompetence, the PN spokesmen said.

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-04-23/news/government-deficit-at-28-of-gdp-debt-shoots-up-to-73-4720459778/