Minister for Finance Edward Scicluna has left Malta for Berlin where he will address the German press following what the Department of Information said are "baseless and highly damaging fabricated allegations which have been circulated in the media in Germany with the clear intent of discrediting the Maltese financial services industry".

The Minister will refer to the baseless information, including video footage which appeared on NET TV, containing fake news from Maltese sources whose sole intent is the crippling of the financial services industry, the DOI said. In a highly partisan statement, the DOI said "this is being done by individuals who are obsessed with maliciously scoring points on the local political scene, with utter disregard for the truth and the livelihoods of thousands of families depending on an industry which has been painstakingly cultivated through cross-party collaboration over the years".

The DOI made no reference to the Panama Papers scandal and the two magisterial inquiries that were launched with the Prime Minister and OPM chief of staff at the centre.

Following this meeting, Minister Scicluna will also be holding talks with the German Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble at the Federal Finance Ministry.