After just a month ago the National Statistics Office (NSO) published figures showing that our country has a deficit amounting to €70 million, the same NSO now said that there is a surplus and not a deficit after all.
Among the several excuses put forward by government for this mess-up in the figures, it is being said that income from government agencies was not added two months ago, but has now been added resulting in a surplus and not a deficit.
In the figures published this week, NSO added income from the sale of passports, which is a one-time income and is decreasing, not increasing every year. In fact, it results that from the €250 million surplus, €191 million was income from the Individual Investement Program (IIP). Therefore, the IIP amounted to 76% of the declared surplus.
Even more worrying is the fact that the should-be surplus is reducing every year, at an alarming rate. In fact, from the figures published by government, it is clear that last year’s surplus decreased by €186 million.
The Nationalist Opposition is right to ask and criticize the fact that people are not managing to make ends meet, pensions are insufficient to last a whole month. This contradicts what the government has been boasting about, claiming that there is another surplus, because it is clear that the supposed-surplus is only being felt by the few close people to Castille and not to the Maltese and Gozitan workers.
