Finance Minister Edward Scicluna last night defended his controversial remarks about the National Statistics Office, saying he had been vindicated when a correction was made by the statistics watchdog.
Two weeks ago Prof. Scicluna complained that contrary to the impression given by the NSO, the biggest number of jobs was not being created in the public service but within the private sector.
The statistics published by the NSO, he had said, did not give a true picture of the situation as the big increase in public sector employment was only due to a reclassification of jobs.
The Malta Statistics Authority had then issued a correction to the NSO figures, based on the arguments made by the minister.
We can no longer afford to have inactive youths who are spending hours playing at their consoles
Addressing a pre-budget public consultation meeting in Marsa-scala, Prof. Scicluna yesterday evening insisted that he had every right to make such an observation in public while fending off criticism that he was trying to pile pressure on the NSO.
Touching on the original argument about job creation, he said that of every five new jobs, only one was being created within the public sector. The retail sector had generated 600 jobs in the last year alone, counter to the impression the Opposition was trying to give.
Speaking about the forthcoming budget, Prof. Scicluna said its measures would be based on the Labour Party’s manifesto.
The Labour government had inherited an economy with modest growth rates and a series of decisions which had never been implemented “as they were left hidden in a drawer”. In its first 18 months, the new government had succeeded in performing an economic turnaround as unemployment was down and the economy was one of the fastest growing in the EU.
He reiterated that the main priority in the next budget would be to address people living on social benefits. “We can no longer afford to have inactive youths who are spending hours playing at their consoles.”
He also referred to the medicine procurement process within the health sector, saying this was costing taxpayers some €80 million a year. The cost was being inflated by the lack of checks and a proper database to monitor the distri-bution of free medicines.
The government was working on a radical overhaul of this sector, he said.