A Parliamentary public appointments committee voted to approve the nomination of former finance minister Edward Scicluna as Central Bank governor on Monday.

The Opposition objected to the nomination and called a division.

Prof Scicluna had served as finance minister between 2013 and 2020, and resigned shortly after his Budget 2021 speech last October.

At the Parliamentary committee hearing, Prof Scicluna was questioned for two hours, where Opposition MPs chastised him for failing to safeguard Malta’s reputation. The former finance minister stressed that he always acted correctly and to the best of his abilities, adding that he could not interfere in the independent operation of institutions such as the MFSA and the FIAU.

Prof Scicluna takes on the role of governor from 1st January, and takes over from his predecessor, Mario Vella, who in turn is being appointed to a new position of Special Commissioner for Economic, Financial and Trade Relations with the United Kingdom.

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