Tonio Fenech - ‘I did not badmouth Malta...I defended it’

Former Finance Minister Tonio Fenech has denied badmouthing Malta in a recent meeting with the International Monetary Fund, insisting that he had a clear conscience and had actually defended the country.

He was contacted after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in Brussels claimed that a member of the previous administration – whom he refused to name – had incited IMF representatives during a recent meeting he had with them.

“We know there was someone, who, for instance, was inciting the IMF because he is not in government anymore and told the IMF that there are problems, which only three months ago he was saying did not exist. The IMF itself told us this. When they told us who had told them this we were surprised,” he told journalists on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.

Asked to name the individual, Dr Muscat said: “I think you can ask around.”

Dr Muscat was speaking in the context of the Excessive Deficit Procedure that the European Commission is expected to take against Malta for its failure to keep within the deficit threshold of the eurozone.

In spite of the procedures, Dr Muscat said the Government had managed to convince the Europ-ean Commission against the need for spending cuts because it had managed to argue that its current plan would manage to slash the deficit by the end of the year.

“We did this thanks to our services in Brussels, thanks to the arguments made by Ambassador (Marlene) Bonnici and people of good will from both sides of the fence,” he said.

Despite not being named, fingers were immediately pointed at Mr Fenech, who when contacted denied badmouthing the country, adding that he had a clear conscience.

“I had an official meeting with the IMF during which I strongly defended Malta’s position in terms of its banking sector and that it cannot be compared to Greece. As a member of the Opposition I expressed doubts on how much the Government can stick to its financial target. I don’t know if this is considered as badmouthing but I have a clear conscience,” he said when contacted yesterday.

“As any Opposition is expected to do,” he said he had expressed his opinion that the Government was not in control of its finances.

“I didn’t badmouth the Government but I carried out my duty as the Opposition. Is the Government expecting the Opposition not to criticise it? Does it want to muzzle us? If Joseph Muscat is credible in his democratic credentials, he should not call us traitors,” he said.