For­mer Min­is­ter of Fi­nance and Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment for Diego Mar­tin North/East, Colm Im­bert, is claim­ing that Gov­ern­ment has di­vert­ed more than $1.3 bil­lion in loans orig­i­nal­ly ear­marked for key state agen­cies to pay salaries and meet short­falls in ex­pen­di­ture.

At a po­lit­i­cal meet­ing at the Mor­vant Cen­tral Com­mu­ni­ty Cen­tre on Tues­day night, the for­mer fi­nance min­is­ter ac­cused the gov­ern­ment of fi­nan­cial mis­man­age­ment.

The Diego Mar­tin North/East MP says he had ac­cess to a re­cent Cab­i­net Note seek­ing ap­proval for the trans­fer of 16 loans, val­ued at ap­prox­i­mate­ly $1.3 bil­lion, to the fi­nance min­istry.