Minister Konrad Mizzi resorted to questioning the credibility of a Times of Malta journalist who asked him how he intended to fund close to $1 million in annual deposits for an account his financial advisers Nexia BT tried to open for his Panama company.

Instead of answering the question, Dr Mizzi demanded an apology from the journalist, accused him of lying and said he had no credibility.

E-mails in the Panama Papers show how Nexia BT gave the go-ahead to Mossack Fonseca to open up a bank account for Dr Mizzi’s company which would have required annual deposits of close to $1 million. 

Since the Panama scandal broke last year, Dr Mizzi has always refused to answer how he intended to fund these deposits given his asset base. 

The minister's 2014 tax returns show €51,672 in income from his government salary, and €21,543 in rental income. His wife Sai earned €34,052.

Dr Mizzi also refused to answer why he withheld the audit on his New Zealand trust for five months.

The audit was completed in September yet only published in February during a visit by the PANA Committee. 

“You have responded to Daphne Caruana Galizia… You are Daphne's pet,” Dr Mizzi told the journalist when asked why it took him five months to publish the audit. 

Konrad Mizzi has filed two libel cases over reports carried by the Times of Malta on the Panama affair. The paper is contesting both cases in court.