'I always give warnings about government expenditure' says Alfred Camilleri

Camilleri was speaking during a pre-budget press conference delivered by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech during which Fenech was asked to confirm that a meeting reported by weekly newspaper Illum took place.

Illum reported that during the high-level meeting involving ministerial heads, Camilleri had delivered warnings on the state of government finances.

“I always give warnings about government expenditure. I was always consistent. Is what I have always done, and what I will keep on doing, as is my duty,” Camilleri said.

He added that that morning alone, he had already had three meetings to the one reported by Illum. He said that these were with the Justice Ministry, with the Ombudsman, and with the office of the President.

Asked to confirm whether the meeting took place, Fenech said that it was “hard to confirm”, adding that a large number of meetings take place in which Camilleri participates.

“What does anyone expect?” Fenech said, referring to the report detailing Camilleri’s warnings. “That he meets with the heads of ministries and urges them to spend, spend, spend?”

He insisted that given government’s commitments in the last budget to reducing government expenditure in various places by 2%, this was nothing out of the ordinary.

“God forbid he does not do this,” Fenech said. “If the permanent secretary didn’t emphasise the point that we need to watch our expenses carefully, I wouldn’t need him.”

In this, Fenech was reiterating statements by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi delivered in parliament, who said last week that  “I would be surprised if Alfred Camilleri, or anyone else for that matter, were to come and tell me that we are financially strong.”

“God forbid he'd tell me that. If he did, I’d have asked him to get out,” Gonzi had said, while denying that any such meetings had taken place in Castille. Illum’s most recent report revels that while the meeting did not take place Castille, it did take place in the Finance Ministry.

He had also dmissed Illum’s report as speculation, comparing it to a recent article that appeared in the Torca which reported that the boom heard over the Maltese islands a few weeks back was a missile fired by Libya targeting Rome.

Gonzi said that “there was no meeting of this type,” however adding that many meetings take place within Castille, many of which involving permanent secretaries and even the Finance Ministry’s permanent secretary.

Gonzi went on to say that Camilleri enjoys his full trust, and how he professionally guides the government on financial matters and related political decisions.