Prime Minister Joseph Muscat insisted yesterday the government was adamant in chasing money hidden by Maltese nationals not only in Swiss accounts but in banks elsewhere too.
Asked about how the government was dealing with recent reports about Maltese people having thousands of euros deposited in accounts in HSBC accounts in Geneva, Dr Muscat said this was not the only bank in Switzerland and there were other countries where people could have parked money away from the sight of tax authorities.
During a phone-in interview on the party’s One Radio, Dr Muscat said that, apart from the recent reports of a list of HSBC account holders, there had been another list which surfaced in 2010 but had not been followed up by the former government.
He said the government had already asked the Swiss authorities to pass on information about accounts connected to Malta. If the Maltese media had information, it should pass it on to the authorities, while protecting the source.
His comments came a day after former Nationalist minister Michael Falzon admitted to holding about €460,000 in an HSBC bank in Geneva. Former Nationalist minister Ninu Zammit also admitted yesterday he had money in a Geneva bank.
The government has already asked the Swiss authorities to pass on information
Foreign media have revealed an estimated €600 million in cash belonging to Maltese nationals are held in foreign accounts.
During the short interview, Dr Muscat also spoke on the cost of fuel and noted that prices in Europe were rising while those in Malta were on a downward trend.
Soon, he said, average prices in Europe would be higher than in Malta.
He said “time will tell” if Opposition leader Simon Busuttil had spoken too early on fuel prices.
Turning his attention to the turmoil in neighbouring Libya, Dr Muscat reiterated that Malta had not received any information that it was being targeted but underlined there was nothing wrong in being vigilant.
“Malta is taking precautions because it is vigilant and not because there is an indication of any danger. If this were to happen, I will be the first to issue a warning,” he said.
He said he was pleased to note that the international community was at last realising there was a problem in Libya and that the situation in the North African country was a danger to Europe.
The UN’s special envoy to Libya, Bernardino Leon, had asked for more time in the hope of reaching a diplomatic solution. One hoped such a solution would come about but if that failed, the international community could not remain idle, Dr Muscat said.
On Greece, he said no final solution had been reached yet and the problem was postponed by four months. Malta was, however, glad that Greece declared it would not seek a debt write-off.
“This was the most important point for Malta, which has an exposure of €180 million in loans and guarantees to Greece,” he said. “We understand that the Greek people are against austerity measures but Malta cannot foot the bill,” Dr Muscat added.