The Labour Party in government is inflicting damage on our economy and our country stands to lose as a result, the PN said in a statement.

The Nationalist Party further stated that it is highly worried over the Finance Minister’s statement yesterday during the first meeting of the Economic and Finance Committee.

“The Finance Minister had highlighted during the government’s Budget speech back in March that Malta will not re-enter the excessive deficit procedure since, according to the minister, the European Commission was taking note of the current government’s bid to ensure that the deficit does not exceed that of three per cent.

“However, from what was said yesterday in parliament, it transpires that the Finance Minister is going back on his words.

“It also emerged that the European Commission didn’t digest the decision of the present government, which, while having stuck to the Budget’s framework, brought about by the PN in government, hasn’t taken any concrete action to correct the situation regarding the deficit.

“The reason behind the Commission losing its confidence in government is because it doesn’t feel the government can keep the current deficit percentage stable while also predicting it overlaps the current 2.7% deficit by a further one per cent.

“Another issue that is worrying the Opposition is that the government hasn’t yet drawn up a plan on how it intends addressing the economic challenges that lie ahead.

“All the Finance Minister has done is give a short speech which focuses on what happened in the past and not one that looks ahead.

“This country deserves a clear economic plan but it transpires that this government hasn’t one in hand,” the PN said.