Prime Minister Joseph Muscat says that he is not managing to save any money from his wage, when challenged about declaring the same amount in savings for the past five years.
The Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has curiously declared, in his Parliamentary declaration of assets, the same amount of funds in savings since 2014.
As at 31 December 2013, he had declared that his bank deposits stood at €70,000 with Bank of Valletta, this shifted upwards to €75,000 in the following year's declaration (as at 31 December 2014), and remained at that amount every year. The Prime Minister earns around €56,000 from his post, in addition to around €6,000 in allowances. The average expenditure for a household with two dependent children is €28,652, according to the Household Budgetary Survey 2015. One also has to take into account the family vacations he takes.
This newsroom asked how it is possible that he is declaring the same amount, and how he would explain it. "I think the question is that I spend all my wage, while many other people manage to save from their wage. I don't manage to save because of the commitments regarding my children's schooling, and other commitments. I expected the question to be the other way around, about how I am not managing to save money."
This newsroom pressed and told him that it is identical down to the cent. "It is more or less the same because I am not adding to my savings. That is the issue."
Asked about PL veterans creating a petition for him to stay on as Prime Minister, and asked whether it has his endorsement and whether it is a move to urge PL supporters to go out and vote. He said he did not know about it,. He said he did know they were doing something but did not know what it was. He said he did not know they were going to launch it and has nothing to comment on it.
The PM has said that he intends to resign before the next general election.
Video by Eva Krins