National debt levels no cause for concern yet, says Project Green chief

Malta’s debt levels are no cause for concern just yet, according to finance analyst and Project Greench chief Steve Ellul, who insists that the country can still afford to borrow money.

Speaking on TVM’s Xtra, Ellul said Malta has one of the lowest debt ratios in the EU. “Even other countries do not measure the volume of debt, but rather how much the country can afford the debt,” he said.

Ellul, who was joined by parliamentary secretary Chris Bonett and Nationalist MPs Ivan Castillo and David Agius, was reacting to the Opposition leader Bernard Grech’s Budget speech. Grech said the government’s economic policy is creating unsustainable levels of debt, with the country on its way to reaching €10 million in debt.

But Ellul defended the government’s ability to borrow money to support various initiatives, such as addressing the pandemic and investing in the energy sector.

He criticised the Opposition for using the national debt as a political pawn. “People are no longer interested in this rhetoric. They are only interested, in my opinion, in the effect of this Budget on their pockets,” Ellul said.

David Agius said that the Budget leaves many things unaddressed, adding that Grech gave a mix of short-term and long-term solutions in his Budget replica.

He spoke about the much-debated metro project, which has been marred by controversy. 

"Go on metro.mt,” he said, referring to the metro information website. “We spent €2 million on studies, we spent half a million on pre-election propaganda, and then all was lost," Agius said.

Agius also weighed in on the Vitals and Steward hospitals deal, saying he was discontent with the government’s failure to condemn the outcome.

He further criticised the government for failing to take action on major national scandals. 

"Nothing happens, everything is normal for this country," Agius lamented, “the light is cut for a whole week, and it's like nothing happened, no one takes responsibility," he said.

Labour MP Chris Bonett immediately hit out at Agius, questioning what the Opposition would have done.

National MP and MEP candidate David Agius disagreed with Steve Ellul saying the government has lost its humility.

"Two hours in parliament and you didn't hear the vision proposed by our leader? So you don’t even want to listen," he responded.

Agius concluded with a critical assessment of the governing party's approach, saying the Labour Party has lost the humility to lead, and is instead fattening its pockets.

Adding to Agius's statement, Castillo expressed concerns about the current economic model based on cheap labor, which has brought along its own set of challenges.

 "There are critical issues such as infrastructure, government investment, traffic management, drainage, water distribution, as well as healthcare and education that have been neglected," he said.

Castillo said a Nationalist Party in government is prepared to address these problems and move away from the current economic model. "It's important to recognize that the economy is not something that can be fixed overnight. It's not like flipping a switch," he added.

"We aim for economic growth, and we are not reinventing the wheel here," Castillo continued.

"We have an eight-year plan in place, with €2 million allocated for the creation of new jobs. It is crucial that we educate the public about the fact that relying on cheap labor is not necessary."