The Minister for Finance Prof. Edward Scicluna discusses the Budget 2015, which was presented in Parliament only days earlier, and which was met with widespread approval by the social partners.

He explains that among the Budget’s main priorities is, first and foremost, to address the country’s debt, which the new Government inherited from previous administrations.

He underlines that the only way this can be done is by addressing the deficit, which represents the annual loss that the country is making. Prof. Scicluna explains that by means of the efforts being done by the new Government to address the deficit, the country will be borrowing €60 million less next year.

 

The Minister for Finance ALSO explains that the Budget’s second priority was to generate economic growth, something that other EU countries were not able to secure, resulting in widespread economic sluggishness and rising unemployment.

He notes that the Government has identified the ingredients for success in this regard in last year’s budget, and affirms that this budget will keep building on those successes. He notes that the three priority areas, which have been left to deteriorate and which the Government is looking to address, are the energy sector, the transportation sector, and accessibility to Malta from abroad.

Prof. Scicluna notes that the Budget 2015’s third priority is to ensure that the economic growth that is generated is distributed in the most just and fair manner possible.

He underlines that measures such as the €35 bonus on top of the €30 COLA adjustment, the Income Tax Reduction, and the maternity leave measures, are proof positive that the Budget 2015 is a budget with a strong social conscience.

 

 

– 21st November, 2014