Leo Brincat seeks to answer critics on comment about Central Bank governor

The Labour Party's spokesman on finance and the economy, Leo Brincat yesterday drew a comparison between the stands taken by the governor of the Central Bank of England, Sir Eddie George on the euro issue, and that of the governor of the Central Bank of Malta, Michael Bonello over EU membership.

Mr Brincat was trying to reply to critics of his comment that the CBM governor had "disqualified himself from serving under a Labour government" for his analysis of the impact of EU membership and of the Labour Party's partnership proposal.

He said that while Sir Eddie had acted prudently by taking a vow of silence over the euro in view of an eventual referendum, the CBM governor did not mind taking an opposing stand to that of "half of the Maltese electorate" on the EU issue.

Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi on Sunday described Mr Brincat's comment as proof of the Labour Party's intolerance.

Addressing a news conference to reply to the Finance Minister's report over the performance of the economy during the fourth year of this legislature, Mr Brincat said the Bank of England was even refusing to give an economic appraisal of whether the British government had a good or defective case for joining the euro.

The conclusion was that even if they commented on the pros and cons of the union, it was feared that the Bank of England would be misinterpreted by the media, Mr Brincat said.

Mr Brincat said "we were careful and did not say that as soon as Labour was elected, we would sack the governor. We said that the governor disqualified himself from being considered to serve under the Labour government, which are two completely different things," Mr Brincat said.

He did not explain what the difference was.

On his part the Bank of England's governor was reported as saying that "it would be completely untenable for bank staff to continue in their jobs if they expressed views during a referendum campaign that were at odds with the public's as expressed in a vote on the euro," Mr Brincat said.

Mr Brincat said that on a personal level he had nothing but respect for the governor of the CBM, describing him as "an intelligent and competent person", but he would not hesitate to sustain the criticism of the governor as he felt that the governor had seriously failed in his duties.

Mr Brincat then went on to comment on the minister's report, saying that the government had still not cleared doubts in the international media on allegations that the Greek operator who appears to be likely to be chosen to run the Lotto Department in Malta was being investigated over money laundering and other irregular practices.

Mr Brincat said that Mr Dalli's report was characterised by intolerance to the extent that constructive criticism by the opposition was being depicted as a systematic strategy of sabotage and misinformation which was hindering the government from reaching its aims.

Mr Brincat said that although the financial year 2002 was nearly over, the report did not state how many taxpayers had reached an agreement over their annual turnover under a scheme announced in the last budget.

Mr Brincat said that no explanation was given either about the fact that while between 2000-2001 the Inland Revenue Department had issued 5,624 'official letters' to settle outstanding tax, only 425 such letters were issued by July this year. Apart from an agreement, an official letter was the means to stop time prescription, he said.

In a statement, the Finance Department said that the press releases on finance issued by the MLP were part of a strategy by the party aimed at creating uncertainty in the country.