Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis today hit out at the Opposition for asking questions based on a story in yesterday’s The Malta Independent on Sunday about unsecured loans given by Bank of Valletta to Air Malta.

An animated Dr Zammit Lewis said the former minister responsible for Air Malta Tonio Fenech would not even answer parliamentary questions about the costs of uniforms for Air Malta staff, let alone on matters of bank secrecy.

He appealed “for caution” from the Opposition, as such questions do damage to Air Malta and BOV employees.

Shadow Tourism Minister Antoine Borg said the Opposition has no interest in harming Air Malta or BOV, to jeers from the government benches.

He asked Dr Zammit Lewis if it is normal for the government to grant unsecured loans.

A dismissive Dr Zammit Lewis told Mr Borg that he does not know what he is talking about.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil interjected at this point, saying that instead of hurling insults Dr Zammit Lewis should try answering the questions being asked.

“The Opposition’s job is to ask questions he said.”

Dr Zammit Lewis said the article by The Malta Independent on Sunday did not speak about guarantees, but spoke about other matters.

Shadow Minister for Tourism Antoine Borg quipped that the article did not speak about guarantees because no guarantees were given.

Dr Zammit Lewis dismissed this as “incorrect and irresponsible.”

The headline of the article in questions is ‘Millions in unsecured loans for Air Malta to fund fuel-hedging discrepancy.’

It reported how the European Central Bank (ECB) has asked Bank of Valletta’s top officials to explain how millions of euros in unsecured loans were issued to Air Malta to make up for the airline’s discrepancy in its fuel-hedging agreements over the past year, this newsroom can reveal.

Air Malta had to turn to BOV to help it fund the discrepancy via ‘quick loans’ but, given its ailing financial situation, the airline could not provide the bank with collateral to fund the immediate loans needed to sort out the purchase of fuel.

It did not turn to the government to guarantee the much-needed loans, since any such action would constitute an outright breach of EU state-aid regulations.

Full story here