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GSD calls on Govt to stop ‘shroud of secrecy’ on finance

The GSD has slammed the Government for refusing to provide information in Parliament last week on its debt and cash reserves as it accused the Government of retreating behind a “shroud of secrecy”.

At a press conference held at GSD headquarters in College Lane yesterday, Party Leader Daniel Feetham said these questions have been habitually asked and answered every single month in Parliament for the past five years.

They were also asked by Joe Bossano when he was the Leader of the Opposition and he received answers from the then GSD administration, he said.

However, during question time in Parliament last Thursday Mr Bossano, who is Minister for Economic Development, replied “No, Mr Speaker” when asked by the GSD to provide the stats on net debt, gross debt and cash reserves.

That refusal to provide the information raises two issues, Mr Feetham said.

Firstly that the Government is “refusing to be transparent with the people of Gibraltar” and secondly it prevents the Opposition from doing its job in holding the Government to account and spotting emerging financial problems, he said.

“That is a phenomenally important role that an Opposition discharges because it is about us looking at these figures and being able to tell the community ‘we think that there is a problem here’,” Mr Feetham told reporters.

The Government’s omission to provide the data is “a complete anathema of what democracy should be about,” he added.

“I believe that the Government does not want us to see what the true financial position is, that has to be the reason for a change of practice that goes back years and years,” Mr Feetham said adding that is because the GSD was right all along when it said that the Government was spending too much money.

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