[WATCH] Busuttil makes case for sound economy, no answer on Farrugia tax inquiry

Nationalist deputy leader Simon Busuttil has stood by an official statement from the finance ministry yesterday that denied any identifiable connection between oil trader George Farrugia and the company Aikon Ltd, that has been the subject of a tax fraud investigation since August 2011, and is still ongoing.

FULL STORY here MFSA documents contradict ministry's claims

"I have no reason not to believe Tonio Fenech," Busuttil said of the finance minister, who on Sunday was reported telling the Sunday Times that the Tax Compliance Unit could not link Aikon, the company at the heart of police investigations related to kickbacks from Trafigura to a former Enemalta consultant for the supply of oil to the state utility, to its beneficial owner.

Farrugia will turn State's evidence to testify against others involved in the network of commissions paid by Trafigura, whom he represented, in criminal procedures set to commence shortly.

But Busuttil was unable to explain why a search in the companies registry, which MaltaToday carried out yesterday, confirmed that Farrugia was already the identifiable owner of Aikon as early as January 2011.

The deputy leader was also questioned again on the energy minister who was responsible for Enemalta over the kickbacks that were paid in 2004, defending Austin Gatt's right to open a bank account in Switzerland which the minister failed to declare after 2005 in his parliamentary returns.

"Labour's contradiction is that Joseph Muscat wants clean politics, and instead his party tries to throw mud by connecting Gatt's bank account to the oil procurement investigation," Busuttil said, referring to the bank accounts held by George Farrugia and the former Enemalta consultant Frank Sammut, for the receipt of the Trafigura commissions.

"Everybody has the right to open a bank account anywhere since we joined the EU. Why would somebody think that exercising this right is wrong?"

Gatt has stated that he inherited a UBS funds account that his father opened in 1973, but failed to declare in his parliamentary returns after 2005. "A number of Labour MPs failed to declare their assets in the parliamentary registry," Busuttil said, without naming the MPs.

Busuttil today made a compelling argument to voters to trust the Nationalist government with the stewardship of the Maltese economy, saying Labour Force Survey statistics had confirmed that 20,000 jobs had been created over the past five years, including 5,000 redundancies reversed throughout the financial crisis that engulfed Europe.

The MEP said Malta's deficit ranked the lowest amongst Mediterranean states, citing as an example the bankrupt Greece which in 2011 was reeling with a deficit of 9% of GDP - compared to Malta's 2.7% deficit in 2012.

Malta's deficits breached the 9% mark in 1998, but also in 2003 at the threshold of EU membership.

Busuttil also claimed Greece's deficit in 2011 was at the same level registered in 1998 under a Labour government.

"We strongly believe only the PN can guarantee an economy of a sound footing, your job, and your family's standard of living. Our ambitious objective for the next five years is the creation of 25,000 new jobs."

Busuttil said a re-elected Nationalist government would reduce income tax to 25% over the next three years for earners grossing between €19,501 and €60,000; reduce tax on property purchases and remove inheritance tax on all residences; extend childcare not just to full-timers but to part-timers, students and flexitime workers; and grant sick leave to parents to tend to their sick children.

Busuttil said giving vouchers to parents was a fairer option than creating public-private partnerships as proposed by Labour. "Vouchers will give parents the freedom to choose which childcare centre they can pick. They can pick public centres, but a voucher will allow them to pick a private centre at an established rate."