MLP claims "confirmed"

Judging from comments by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi during a recent news conference, it was evident that figures would continue to be juggled in order to hide reality, Labour Party deputy leader Charles Mangion said.

In a statement, Dr Mangion said that when Dr Gonzi quoted the recent financial performance of the Nationalist government during a media briefing last week, he admitted that the figures mentioned were simply designed to satisfy the Maastricht criteria and did not reflect the truth.

Dr Mangion said the figures confirmed the Labour opposition's claims that the government's debt was much higher than that reported by the government and that the structural deficit was worse than that declared by the government in the budget for this year.

Dr Mangion said the deficit amounted to Lm175 million when according to the government it should have been Lm78 million, while the national debt in one year had increased by more than Lm0.5 million to Lm1.3 billion.