Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia did not declare any current or savings account balances in the annual financial declaration MPs are obliged to make to Parliament.

In the filings seen by the Times of Malta, Dr Delia declared over €670,000 worth of loans but no current or saving account figures.

Asked where his salary as Opposition leader and the proceeds from his business share sales went - if not into a bank account - a spokesman for Dr Delia said he “did not declare he does not have a savings/current account”.

“There is no such question in the declaration schedules. His parliamentary wage goes into a current account,” the spokesman said.

The Parliament declaration clearly states that MPs need to include information about bank deposits and any other financial interests. The MPs’ code of ethics also contains such provisions.

In his 2017 declaration, Dr Delia had even declared his wife’s bank balance.

Asked how Dr Delia now appeared to be interpreting the need for financial disclosure more narrowly, his spokesman said Dr Delia had no deposits, so there was nothing to declare.

“In his 2017 declaration, he was privy to information pertinent to his wife’s paraphernal account. Today he is not. There has been no change in interpreting anything at all.

“He has always been fully transparent and submitted far more information publicly than required”, the spokesman continued.

Dr Delia had published a statement of affairs days before successfully winning his leadership bid in September 2017 as questions about his finances mounted.

The Times of Malta reported in January that the PN leader faced loan, spousal maintenance payments and other monthly commitments, including the lease of a Jaguar, amounting to over €9,000,

Read: Adrian Delia facing monthly payments of over €9,000

Dr Delia’s pay as Opposition leader leaves him with about €2,700 in hand every month.

Dr Delia assured the Times he was keeping up with his monthly commitments, which were also being funded by the sale of shares in his law firm and other business interests.

Dr Delia had declined to state the precise amount of the monthly payments for his shares when asked in January, insisting it was an agreement involving private individuals.

He had also said the eventual sale of his shares in Mġarr Developments Ltd would be a future source of income, though he acknowledged that the timing did not depend on him because units were still being sold and loans for the property deve-lopment paid off.

The loan amount stood at €7 million in 2017.

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