The government is burdening future Maltese generations with millions of euros in debt, according to shadow finance minister Mario de Marco.

National debt increased by €220 million in the third quarter of last year, Dr de Marco said in reaction to government comments that Malta had enjoyed the second largest debt cut – 2.7 per cent of GDP – of the EU member states.

He said that, while the government was boasting about a drop in debt as a percentage of the GDP, it had not mentioned an increase in the global debt.

“The drop, in percentage terms, was the result of economic growth, the majority of which was not coming from the private sector but from the government, which, in the past 20 months, employed 4,500 people in the civil service.

“Moreover, a recent revision in statistics led to an increase of about three per cent in the gross domestic product,” Dr de Marco said.

Asking about the €220 million debt increase, he noted that the previous administration had invested people’s money in major infrastructural projects.

The PN was hoping the government would take the country’s financial situation seriously because the experience of neighbouring states was enough to urge it to change track.

In reply, the government insisted that the official Eurostat figures confirmed Malta was on the forefront in debt reduction.

It said that, under previous Nationalist administrations, the country became burdened with a national debt of €5 billion in 10 years. This government’s aim was to stop the alarming increase in public debt.

The Finance Ministry also noted that the Eurostat figures covered only the first three quarters of last year. This meant they did not take into account the Enemalta-Shanghai agreement, which led to an investment of €320 million in the energy sector.