Government warned by its own experts over reckless spending, PN says

The Labour government’s dangerous mismanagement of the country’s finances has reached a point where even the economic and financial experts appointed by the government itself are now warning it to change course before it is too late, the Nationalist Party said Monday.

The Government’s Fiscal Advisory Council, a group of experts appointed by the Minister for Finance to assess the Government’s economic and fiscal policy, has warned that government spending is placing the country in a vulnerable position and has called on the government to strengthen Malta’s public finances.

The latest statistics show that Malta debt has climbed to nearly €11.5 billion.

Referring to the government’s excessive expenditure on unproductive areas, the Council stated that instead the government should invest taxpayers’ money in areas such as infrastructure, education, skills, higher value-added economic activities, and in measures that grow the economy in a sustainable manner. This appeal fully mirrors the warnings repeatedly issued by the PN and several constituted bodies ahead of the most recent budget – warnings which Robert Abela’s government chose to ignore entirely.

The experts also underlined that the increase in Government expenditure far exceeds the levels recommended by the European Union. Malta is already under the European Commission’s Excessive Deficit Procedure, and in November the Commission issued a clear warning that unless the Government changes course, it would be compelled to take further steps against Malta – posing a direct threat to the country’s sovereignty.

Over the past year, Malta’s national debt has reached €11 billion. In just one year, the Labour Government paid more than €260 million in interest on its own debt.

This issue was also highlighted by the Auditor General, who warned that spending on interest is crowding out investments that would otherwise promote economic growth and social development.

This is a Government without an economic vision: while a few continue to prosper, the wider public is left to bear the burden of rising prices.

The PN once again called on the government to listen to its own experts, the Auditor General, European institutions and constituted bodies, and to stop burying its head in the sand. Malta deserves financial accountability and fiscal prudence, where taxpayers’ money is invested in initiatives that genuinely deliver returns and improve people’s quality of life.