This is a budget for everyone, a budget that makes you proud to be Maltese, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne while addressing a news conference a day after the Budget together with the Minister for Finance and Edward Scicluna Financial Services.
“With this budget we have shown that we are not putting burdens on families and workers but we are helping them. In fact, this is the budget of the worker, the budget of the families, the budget of the pensioners, the budget of the students, the budget of the environment “, said the Deputy Prime Minister.
He explained that because it was a budget that helped families and workers, it is a budget that is also helping the industry. This is through measures such as the first-time buyers measure and vouchers which will again be directly helping the business sector.
This is a budget that brings us honor, a budget of the whole society, a budget that makes us proud to be Maltese, said the Deputy Prime Minister.
The Minister of Finance and Financial Services Edward Scicluna said that due to the pandemic, it is a reality that the country is suffering from a great economic and financial impact, with various sectors that generate great income, such as tourism, suffering from a major blow. Minister Scicluna said that the country was accustomed to the growing Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which even reached high figures, but this time the scenario is reversed because the country is currently experiencing a negative GDP, that of -7.4%.
Minister Scicluna explained that the government is currently in a situation where it needs to spend wisely and increase its cost for the benefit of families and businesses to help them get through this difficult period. Measures such as the Covid Wage Supplement, among many other social measures, have been introduced to help families and individuals protect their employment.
Minister Scicluna said, “As a government we will continue to give our full attention so that during this time we will continue to help the youngest and the most vulnerable people. So in this budget we have allocated € 50 million more than the previous budget in social measures to see that the youngest benefits the most ”. The minister mentioned various measures including the tax refund, the increase in pensions, the supplementary allowance for those with a low pension and the increase in the children’s allowance, which are intended to most help families and low-income individuals.
This budget has also made it clear that this government has a vision, which in addition to thinking about the present, also thinking about the post-pandemic future. Thus this budget is being drawn up on three main pillars; that of the green economy, the digital economy and infrastructure.
