The salary of the Governor of the Central Bank of Malta was increased to address anomalies created when the salaries of the Deputy Governors were increased, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana told Parliament on Monday.

He was replying to a Parliamentary Question by PN MP Therese Comodini Cachia.

It was recently reported that his predecessor, Edward Scicluna, had topped up the CMB governor’s salary by €11,000 months before he took up the role. According to The Shift News, the salary was increased from €89,000 to €100,000, despite Scicluna having previously said the salary would not increase.

Caruana said the remuneration for the CMB governor in 1 January 2020 was €100,000. In January of this year, it was increased to €115,000 and a ‘Responsibility Allowance’ of 20% was introduced.

The Finance Minister said that, in 2019, the Central Bank had brought to the attention of the minister anomalies that had been created when the salaries of the central bank’s deputy governors and the MFSA’s Chief Officers were increased. After an evaluation, it was agree that the anomaly would be addressed and there would first be a partial increase. The following year, the salary of the CMB governor would be brought in line with that of the Chief Officer MFSA. The governor’s salary was increased to retain relativitity with the salaries of the deputy governors.  

Replying to another PQ, Caruana said the incumbent governor has the same benefits enjoyed by his predecessor: use of a car, telephone and internet and medical insurance.