The Nationalist Party said that the European Commission's opinion on the Budget for 2014 was another blow for Malta's reputation and showed yet again the EU was not believing the Maltese government.

Reacting to the Commission's opinion, PN leader Simon Busuttil said that despite the Government's projections the Commission stated clearly that Malta was still at risk of not complying with EU rules and was not taking the necessary action to rein in the deficit and debt.

Describing Finance Minister Edward Scicluna's reaction as "incredible", Dr Busuttil said this showed that the Government was incompetent and believed the Maltese public to be gullible.

"This week the Government accused the opposition of making wrong calculations. I hope that Prof. Scicluna will not come out saying that the Commission does not know how to carry out economic analyses."

Dr Busuttil said that the Commission warned the Government to revise its plans to keep within the rules.

He said the EU's negative opinion was another blow to Malta's reputation in view of the battering the country was getting in the international press due to the Governments cash for citizenship programme.

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