Jul 16 - Government Says Credit Finance Information Is “All Public” And “Not Funding Any Government Project”
The Government has replied to the latest advertisement from the GSD published in the Gibraltar Chronicle. In a statement released this afternoon, Number 6 says that the advert “shows Mr Feetham really scratching the bottom of the barrel.”
The Government repeats that it has disclosed publicly and shared with the Opposition and the general public “all information” in relation to Credit Finance Company Limited, adding that the information on the balance sheet of Credit Finance is placed on the Government website and updated every month.
It is therefore entirely untrue, according to the Government, for Mr Feetham to “pretend that there is anything ‘secret’ about the work of Credit Finance.”
The statement continues:
“As Mr Feetham is further aware, and as has been made clear in Parliament, monies from Credit Finance are not being used to fund any Government project. It is therefore also a mendacious lie - as so much in his series of adverts has been - to pretend the opposite. There is no question of Credit Finance being used as a "credit card" for the Government at all.
“Indeed, it would appear that Mr Feetham just wants to ignore the facts in order to continue with his fallacious arguments seeking to deny how well the economy is now doing under the GSLP/Liberal government. This is even more relevant given Sir Peter Caruana's acceptance in Parliament that under the GSD the level of debt was reaching the ceiling fixed in law. This is a complete vindication of the GSLP/Liberal's position at the election and of the Treasury's figures that demonstrated only £2.5m was left at the end of the GSD's last financial year in office. Mr Feetham, however, seems not to have appreciated the meaning and import of the words of the man he once described as "the greatest Gibraltarian politician of all time." Indeed, the Government reiterates that Mr Feetham is just running a campaign that ignores all the data and information provided to him during the Budget debate. He has clearly thought up his mendacious adverts before the debate and isn't going to let facts get in the way of his desire negative spin!”
