According to statistics published by the National Statistics Office today, the Government's consolidated fund registered a deficit of €70 million for the year 2018. In 2017, the consolidated fund registered a surplus of €182 million. This means that between 2017 and 2018, the consolidated fund ended up worse off by €253 million, the Nationalist Party said in a statement.

This government, as evidenced by a series of reports by the Auditor General, repeatedly acted against the principles of good governance and value for money. In its latest report, the Auditor General reported how the Ministry of Health employed personnel on the eve of an election at an annual cost of €2 million, the statement, signed by the party spokesman for finance, Mario de Marco, said

This was not an isolated case. In 2017, the public sector headcount shot up by over 1500.  The bill for these corrupt practices is going to be borne by the taxpayers. Whilst Government was dishing out jobs to curry political favour, it neglected to provide for key areas. The Teachers' Union yesterday spoke of a crisis in teachers' recruitment.

Recent NSO statistics for January and February 2019 show that the trend of deficits which started in October of last year is persisting also in the current year. The government has bloated the daily cost of running government, costs that were being financed by one-off revenue streams, as confirmed by the European Commission in the Malta Country Report 2019. Those streams are running dry and now government and the Maltese tax-payer are being faced with the problem of how to sustain the reckless spending of Government.

The Opposition is calling on the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry which has failed in nearly all of its obligations, to explain how it is going to solve this serious shortfall in government finances, the PN said.