Finance Minister Edward Scicluna made a Ministerial Statement to Parliament this evening about an agreement on BEPS reached at Ecofin at the beginning of the week, but the ensuing debate did not touch the subject matter at all.

On the contrary, Leader of the Opposition Simon Busuttil asked the minister if he feels happy with a minister like Konrad Mizzi who has been found to have a company in Panama, with a fellow minister (Evarist Bartolo) who attacks the MFSA head on a daily basis and with a person who was about to be nominated Governor of the Central Bank still there as a Deputy Governor.

Minister Scicluna gave a nuanced reply on the Konrad Mizzi case. He said he has said what he had to say on this matter. What does great harm to Malta are the media reports highlighting how Malta's name has been blackened.

As regards Professor Bannister, a meeting has been held with the Opposition by Prof. Bannister.

And as regards the Central Bank, he could not remove the Deputy Governor for the Central Bank is an autonomous institution. He asked for legal advice from the ECB and this was the advice given to him.

The name of the new governor will be announced by the government in a few days.