11.30am Update with PN statement

It was time for Malta to have a serious debate about its minimum wage, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this morning.

With the economy growing and unemployment down to a 36-year low, there was no better time to look into the issue, the Prime Minister said during a One programme. 

Dr Muscat said that the government would not be resting on its laurels despite unemployment now under 4,000.

Describing unemployment as "Malta's one major enemy", the Prime Minister said that bringing unemployment to a 36-year record low was proof that the government was successfully beating this "enemy". 

He said that a Caritas report published earlier this week showed that the jobs being created were breaking down poverty, and that various government measures - in-work benefits, tapering, lower energy costs - were bearing fruit.  

The Prime Minister only touched upon the ongoing Panama Papers scandal by acknowledging that "people expect better" but adding that the Labour Party would not fall for the Opposition's "provocations". 

"Now we need to work on issues such as the environment and governance," he said. 

'Muscat is caught in a crisis of corruption': PN

The Prime Minister's decision to completely ignore the Panama Papers fallout was proof of how "cut off from reality" he was, the PN said in a statement. 

"The past days' revelations merit some form of reaction from the Prime Minister," the party said. "Muscat must realise that despite his attempts to ignore the scandal, the fact that he kept [chief of staff] Keith Schembri and [Minister without portfolio] Konrad Mizzi close to him confirms that he is their accomplice." 

The PN insisted that the Caritas report showed that poverty had risen.