The latest government finances figures published today by the government's statistics office confirm that, in May of this year, the country's debt continued to rise and now stands at €11,840 million, the Nationalist Party said Friday.
The statement issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO) for the period between January and May 2026 confirms that, once again, when compared with the same month last year, the debt with which Robert Abela's Labour Government is burdening the country has continued to increase, reaching new records.
This figure of almost €12 billion in debt at the end of last month is equivalent to more than €29,200 in debt for every Maltese and Gozitan citizen. It also means that, in one year, debt increased by almost €1 billion (€957 million) when compared with the same month in 2025 - an increase of 9%, the PN said.
Half of this €1 billion in debt in one year was incurred in April alone, that is, in the final month before the election.
Before the election, Clyde Caruana told us that the country does not borrow €1 billion even over a whole year. However, the NSO figures continue to confirm that the Labour Government is increasing debt at the same pace as during the pandemic. This is undermining the sustainability of our country's debt.
The incompetence of Robert Abela and Clyde Caruana's Government in the management of public finances is now exposing the country even to minor increases in interest rates set by the European Central Bank, as we have seen in recent weeks.
Alongside the record increase in debt, another record is also rising: the interest we are having to pay from our taxes on government debt. By the end of May, this amounted to €128 million - an increase of almost €10 million when compared with last year.
According to the Government's own forecast in the 2026 Budget, this year the Maltese people are projected to pay between €340 million and €350 million in interest on public debt. This means around €1 million every single day in interest payments alone.
The high level of debt with which Robert Abela has burdened the people means that, since becoming Prime Minister, he has managed to borrow more than all the Prime Ministers before him combined, the PN said.
With the policy of the Labour Government, debt will continue to accelerate in the coming years so that, by 2028, we will reach a new record of more than €14 billion, as announced by the Minister for Finance himself in the last budget. This means that while Robert Abela has already doubled the debt accumulated by those before him, within two years he will have tripled the debt.
The statement was signed by Adrian Delia, Shadow Minister for Finance, and Darren Carabott, Shadow Minister for the Economy, Technology and Strategic Projects