Ex-Muscat aide Kurt Farrugia makes do with €105k basic salary after pay cut

A former top aide to Joseph Muscat has in the “past weeks” decided to take a salary reduction that will see him earn a €105,000 basic salary, plus perks.

Kurt Farrugia was parachuted into the role of Malta Enterprise CEO in 2019 on a €105,000 salary with €5,000 annual increments, in what was described as a “highly unique” and one-sided contract.

Months later, as the COVID-19 pandemic brought business to a standstill, Farrugia had publicly stated that he will do his bit by taking a pay cut.

Documents on the financial packages of government CEOs tabled in parliament last week, however, show his basic salary has actually risen from €105,000 in 2019 to €115,000 in 2022.

Questioned by Times of Malta about what had become of his pay cut pledge, Farrugia said that in 2020-2021, when he made the statement, he took a €5,000 salary cut. This amounts to a forfeiture of the €5,000 annual increment. 

“During the last year, I was paid according to my contract, which is public,” Farrugia said.

He added that “in the past weeks”, he has communicated his decision to reduce his salary come August, reverting to a €105,000 basic pay and forfeiting the annual €5,000 increments envisaged in the...