The Nationalist Party yesterday accused the government of “seriously undermining the independence of the National Statistics Office”, which played a crucial function in a democratic country.

It deplored the government’s “coercion” of the NSO by using a government-appointed board to cast doubts on the validity of its data and its interpretation.

This intrusion into the NSO’s independent operations was aimed at defending an “incorrect statement” by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna relating to the rise in public sector employees, it said.

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