Prime Minister Robert Abela said that despite the country and the world being gripped by the coronavirus the government had produced a budget that offered the greatest financial packages in the history of the country.
In his reaction to the Budget Speech delivered by the Leader of the Opposition he said the budget outlines the government’s plans for the next ten years.
Touching on issues such as jobs saved he said that Malta had the lowest unemployment throughout the European Union.
The Labour government he said had negotiated a financial packet of €2,250 million from EU Funds which meant the government was able to provide support without imposing any taxes.
Prime Minister Abela recounted the situation how different the situation was in 2008 when under a Nationalist government the deficit exploded and the people had to pay the cost but today it was the government that was carrying the burden. He was critical of a Nationalist government that had left a broken economy, medicines out of stock and rising bills.
Today the Labour government had added thousands of workers within the health sector, expenditure had trebled and medicines out of stock was now a thing of the past.
Prime Minister Abela did not hang back when slamming the Opposition’s speech in reply to the Budget saying they could not even get that right as it contained so many factual mistakes on the growth of the economy.
Robert Abela spoke of the future, a digital future and a cleaner environment with Gozo forming an integral part of that future. Gozo he said will be a central focus for an environmental and digital transformation.
The prime minister again spoke of his firm stand of migrants saying that those who were not entitled to asylum will be sent back.
He understood and felt the sacrifices being made by everyone as the country battled the Covid-19 pandemic but was resolute in the firm belief that Malta would emerge stronger.
Prime Minister Abela closed with a phrase he used throughout his speech, “with us they know where they stand”.
