NSO figures show that, in the final year of the last PN administration, the cost of public sector salaries increased by €40 million - from €882 million to €922 million – in the space of just one year. On the other hand, the expenditure on wages increased by the same amount over two years, the PL said today.

The PL said in a statement that the expenditure in the year before the general election had been due to a strong increase in the civil service.

When Simon Busuttil was PN Deputy Leader, public service jobs increased by 660 - around six a day during the electoral campaign. A number of collective agreements were also signed on the eve of the general election, increasing government spending.

The new contract for three public officers who used to form part of Former Minister Tonio Fenech’s secretariat was signed on the eve of the election, the PL said.

The Labour Party said the reality was that the current administration managed to get Malta out of the excessive deficit procedure at a time when the Opposition was forecasting bailout. The economy had grown so much that in spite of lower income tax, the government received €71 million more than in the last quarter of the previous administration.

In the nine months when Simon Busuttil was PN deputy leader, the national debt increased by around €100 million a month. Between June last year and March this year this dropped by nearly €120 million.