Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544603
The following are excerpts from the interview. The full interview can be found on maltatoday.com.mt as well as our Facebook and Spotify pages. PHOTOS: JAMES BIANCHI / MALTA TODAY 7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 APRIL 2026 INTERVIEW Will we ever end up in a situation where energy prices increase to a point that government only subsidises part of the price hike? Government's expenditure is made up of priorities and I think this should remain the top priority. I believe that we should keep shouldering the full price. If the price keeps rising to a much higher level, two things will happen. Big economies will be brought to their knees and then there will be what we in economics call "demand destruction," where the price increases to such high levels that when other economies fall, the price falls because demand plummets as well. Are you involved in plans surrounding the metro? I don't need to be involved in the planning, infrastructure and technicalities. I'm not an expert and I'm not really interested in these things; I would be way out of my depth. What I'm interested in is the financial aspect and that's where I will give my two cents. I know that studies are ongoing and when they're completed, this is undoubtedly a massive project and like I said before, God forbid this goes wrong. I can't treat this project as if we're building a pavement. This requires all the studies and consideration… I was on a programme yesterday and I said that I'm one of the most outspoken ministers in government. I will share all my thoughts on the numbers that I see and my opinion will be solely made up on those numbers. You had already given your two cents on what else has to be done to stop traffic. When you get approached to sign off on this project, will you condition govern- ment to introduce meas- ures that reduce car use? You're way ahead already. To get to that part, first I have to be convinced of the numbers from the studies to see that the project is viable. What can make it viable? I need to see what the studies are saying. I need to see the fare structure, and how we are going to subsidise it… I will then discuss the numbers from the studies and move on from there. What's sure is that as long as I have been finance minister, I never did anything that went against my conscience. Let me be clear, if I disagree, I will say that I disagree, I cannot put my signature on something I believe is harmful. And if the general consensus is that we still need to go in that direction, it's like anything else in life; when one pope dies, another takes his place. I think I'm being very clear. Let's talk about some- thing you mentioned; the silly season. You de- scribed it as the time at the end of a legislature where politicians come up with spectacular pro- posals. Do you have any examples? I'm thinking of the latest Opposition proposal on [reducing] VAT [for catering establishments]. Is that not madness? Even the public understood that. With all due respect to who came up with it, our economy isn't made up of one sector. How can I give one sector €140 million and nothing else to the rest? How many €140 millions do we have? I assume everyone would love it but there needs to be a sense of responsibility. Did you see any silly season proposals from government? I can't say that what is placed on the table always makes sense, and when it doesn't make sense, I speak my mind, and in the majority of cases, the proposals are fixed, especially if there are big financial implications. I think it's my fundamental role to intervene and God forbid I abdicate from it. Are you involved in the Labour Party's manifes- to? Yes. What do you think? I like. All I can say is that when the time comes, and I don't know when that is, we will have proposals that make sense, are affordable, realistic, costed, and they will be implemented. Let's talk about some- thing else; the 2025 law that allows tax evaders to reach a deal with gov- ernment, pay a fee and avoid criminal charges. Do you think this sends the wrong message? No… Let's say you evade €500,000 in taxes. Before you could've gone to court and maybe spend a month in jail and that would be your penalty. Instead, now you have to pay the €500,000, pay interest and penalties for not paying the sum, which might mean that you would end up paying €1 million. And then you have to pay another penalty on top of that, so look at how much I can recover. What we have to look at is this; what is more useful? Is it putting tax evaders in jail and being satisfied with that? Or is it collecting what is owed or almost double that? Personally, I'm collecting more taxes and that is a bigger deterrent… We're living in a differ- ent Malta when compared to 10, 13 years ago. You were one of the archi- tects of the current eco- nomic model… I think I'm given more credit than is due for that. This model has creat- ed a new underclass of exploited people. As a socialist, do you feel any responsibility? I don't exploit people. This country has laws and they apply equally to everyone. If an employer is exploiting people, then they are behaving badly, not me or government. In a previous life when I headed JobsPlus, there were about 8,000 unemployed people. Now we don't even discuss unemployment. With a number of reforms, we created a strong demand for workers. When we used up the Maltese workforce, we had to look at foreigners. This isn't something that I want. We could've said, "that's enough employees," but things could have turned out much different. Our economy would not look like it does now, and when met with certain shocks, we might have not had enough resources to combat them. The interview was conducted before the full extent of the light rail transport plan was known to the interviewer, hence the reference to metro.