Total budget overrun amount €158m, not €250m; figure is third lowest since 2000 - Edward Scicluna

The real amount requested by different ministries over and above the amounts allocated in the 2017 budget was €158 million not €250 million, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said yesterday, reacting to an earlier press conference by the Opposition.

Professor Scicluna also described the requests for supplementary funds as something that was completely normal and which happens practically every year. In fact, figures provided during the press conference show that the amount requested this year amounted to 3.6% of the total budget allocation. This was the third lowest requested amount since 2000 – in 2008 the government had requested an additional 16%.

The Finance Minister said the Opposition could not be taken seriously. It had failed to do the simplest of things – to check the total amount requested by ministries as listed in a document recently tabled by his ministry. “The €250 million figure is either an invention or the Opposition’s shadow ministers are unable to count.”

He explained that the €158 figure was the ‘worst case scenario,’ pointing out that, while some ministries had requested additional funds, others had not spent their entire allocations.

Professor Scicluna said the PN spokespersons were being double-faced when they kicked up such a fuss over something that happened every year, including under PN administrations. “Tonio Fenech could have told them this,” he said, noting the former finance minister’s ‘conspicuous absence’ in the matter.

The minister also explained that GDP estimates are moderate by nature, and allow for such reviews. He pointed out that the deficit as a percentage of GDP had gone down from 2.6% in 2013 to 0.7% in 2016. The latter figure was expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

The request for additional funds by the ministries would not affect the national debt or deficit, the minister asserted.

Asked about the huge discrepancies between the original amounts allocated to certain ministries and the supplementary funds they had requested, Professor Scicluna said most requests are rejected. “We can only spend what we can afford.”

He confirmed that all extra funds were justified and approved by his ministry but would not go into detail on what the money requested was for, telling journalists that questions should be sent to the respective ministries.

Professor Scicluna refuted claims that he had lost control over government spending. He also insisted that the PN was incorrectly quoting from the NSO reports and said the Opposition should seek clarification from the office, not the government.