Tonio Fenech is trying to use Enemalta Corporation to obtain a loan to shore up the country’s spiralling deficit, according to Labour leader Joseph Muscat.

Dr Muscat said the Finance Minister was “at the forefront” of efforts for Enemalta to take out a loan of between €40 and €50 million, which could be pumped into the Government’s coffers.

He said the loan would still appear on Enemalta’s books, which already had debts exceeding €700 million.

“He is incompetent in financial management, so is trying to burden Enemalta with this incompetence, which destabilises the energy company and puts at risk the jobs of people who work for it.

“He is also destabilising the country’s entire power generation,” he told a crowd in Mqabba.

Dr Muscat warned that a future Labour government would hold anyone participating in “such irresponsibility” accountable.

The Finance Ministry said it was Dr Muscat who was financially incompetent. It did not rebut his Enemalta loan accusation but said Dr Muscat’s words on Enemalta were “not correct”.

The ministry said the Government was not using Enemalta to solve its deficit problem but, on the contrary, it had helped the corporation absorb the extra cost of rising oil prices to keep its tariffs in rein.

Dr Muscat also hit out at Mr Fenech over the handling of his ministry and last week’s “confusing” statements on the Government’s deficit targets and whether they will be reached. He said Mr Fenech did not know what the final deficit figure for this year was going to be.

Mr Fenech had admitted the Government would not achieve its deficit target of 2.3 per cent but later said the opposite.

Referring to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s speech at the European People’s Party conference last week, Dr Muscat described it as “confessional” .

He said values were not necessarily those derived from ecclesiastic values. It did not mean barring two men or two women from falling in love, he said.

Dr Muscat said that while Dr Gonzi was speaking about values and how these came before votes, he took a €500-a-week increase behind people’s back when people had to face increased bills and hardships.

Dr Muscat also spoke about the party’s congress that starts in Gozo on Sunday and includes a full week of activities.

The congress will draw up the guidelines for Labour’s electoral manifesto which, he promised, would include “concrete proposals” and a road map for economic growth.

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