He received his primary education at the old Saint Catherine"s High School, Sliema. He subsequently received his secondary education (1979–1986) and post-secondary education (1985–1987) at Saint Aloysius" College, Birkirkara. Tonio graduated in Management and Accountancy (Bachelor of Commerce) at the University of Malta, he then completed his Bachelor of Arts(Honours) Accountancy, in 1992.
He is now a warranted Accountant and Auditor.
He was Mayor of Birkirkara from 1998 to 2003. His first work experience was gained during the summer work phase in his Sixth Form years, on the factory floor at Multi Packaging Limited. He joined Price Waterhouse in July 1993.
Tonio"s initial years at Price Waterhouse, later PricewaterhouseCoopers, were in the audit practice, where he became a manager.
He subsequently moved to the management consultancy practice of the firm where he became a Senior Consultant. Tonio had a number of international work experiences with the firm in Italy and Libya.
His audit experiences included the Instituto per le Opere Religiose (IOR) Vatican Bank. Fenech was elected as a Birkirkara local councillor in March 1996 to hold public office for the first time.
Following the 1998 general elections Fenech was elected Mayor of Birkirkara and held this post until April 2003 when he was elected to Parliament.
Tonio contested the local council elections three times. He then was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Finance by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi on 27 March 2004. Tonio Fenech was also given responsibility for the successful termination of the contractual agreements and the termination of works at Mater Dei Hospital.
Following the March 2008 general election, he was appointed as Minister of Finance, Economy and Investment on March 12, 2008.
Fenech was responsible for managing Malta"s economy throughout the international economic and financial crisis. Despite these challenges, Malta"s economy continued to register growth, while the jobless rate remained among the lowest in the European Union.
Follow this Tonio Fenech was also responsible for undertaking significant national reforms, including the privatisation process at Malta Shipyards and a restructuring process at Air Malta.
In April 2003, he was elected Member of Parliament from the 8th District, and was subsequently appointed as observer to the European Parliament between May 2003 and March 2004.
