Muscat hopes that Giovanna Debono will distract us from the financial mire of his very own Gozo Minister

Members of parliament had to submit their declarations of assets and liabilities to the House by 30 April, and the inevitable has happened with the declaration of Gozo Minister Anton Refalo.

In his last declaration, his outstanding dues to the banks amounted to €830,741, a loan which – according to his declared income – he could only be paying off on his salary as a minister.

Despite this, he has made significant inroads into that loan, because according to his latest declaration, he now owes the bank only €781,000. He settles his monthly installments of €2,250 on his ministerial salary of €45,329 before tax.

The Gozo Minister is a property magnate of sorts, but declares no income from his flats, houses, garages and offices, so presumably they are all lying empty as dead assets.

Even there, he has tried to pull a fast one: he has declared ownership of 16 pieces of real estate, but some of them are blocks of flats, and if you count the flats separately, as they should be, he owns 27 in all.

Giovanna and Anthony Debono look like amateurs.