The government will present the Budget for 2025 on 28 October, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced in comments while in New York on Sunday.
Abela is in New York City in connection with the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Budget speech will, as per tradition, be read out by Finance Minister Clyde Caruana.
The Prime Minister said that the Budget for next year will continue the implementation of the ‘Malta Flimkien’ programme that the Labour government was elected to fulfil, and said that it will keep families and businesses in mind but also work to address “new priorities.”
“It will be a Budget where the fiscal incentives will be tied to the five priorities which we need in order to direct our economy,” Abela said, before adding that it will be another significantly social Budget which will reward hard work by strengthening the middle class through a reduction in the income tax rate.
Abela said that the main aim behind the Budget is to improve people’s quality of life by not just incentivising, subsidising, and offering a better income for families but to also ensure that everything that is of benefit to people can be enjoyed in tranquillity.
Abela noted that consultation exercise that the government is carrying out with people and social partners, and said that this social dialogue is important in the preparation of the Budget which will be the government’s direction for the coming year and beyond.
The Prime Minister explained how despite international challenges, the Maltese economy is a strong and resilient one, and experts today certify a greater economic growth than what was predicted in previous months.
He said that the government’s job is to ensure that growth is sustainable and that it addresses the country’s new realities, with an emphasis towards quality, especially when the country comes to choose what investments it wants to move towards, particularly those which leave high added value and require less low-skilled workers.
Abela explained that the environment, infrastructure, health and education sectors will all remain crucial in the government’s capital investment in the upcoming Budget, while the country’s fiscal status will be strengthened with “prudent and targeted” investment.