Professor Edward Scicluna, who served as Malta’s Finance Minister from the Labour Party’s election in 2013 until last month, will take up his new role at the helm of the Central Bank of Malta as from Friday 1st January 2020.

The President of Malta, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, has appointed Professor Scicluna as Governor of the Central Bank of Malta for a period of five years.

Professor Scicluna had been approved as the new Central Bank of Malta Governor by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee earlier in December.

His nomination was contentious, with the Opposition objecting to the appointment due to the controversies that characterised his term as Finance Minister, in particular over the hospital privatisation deal.

As Central Bank Governor, he will also sit on the governing council of the European Central Bank.

Professor Scicluna had served as Minister for Finance and Financial Services between 2013 and November 2020. In 2009, he had been elected to the European Parliament where he served for four years as vice-chairman of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee and as the European Parliament's representative on the European Statistical Advisory Board.

Among various roles, he was the chairman of the Malta Council of Economic and Social Development (MCESD), chairman of the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) and a director of the Central Bank of Malta.

He will replace incumbent Dr Mario Vella, who has served as Governor since 1st July 2016, and who has been appointed by the Government of Malta as the Special Commissioner for Economic, Financial and Trade Relations with the United Kingdom, a role he takes up on 1st January 2021.