Government received proposals and ideas from the social partners in preparation for the 2023 budget

In a meeting of the Maltese Council for Economic and Social Development the social partners discussed the pre-budget document. The social partners presented their proposals to the government.

Present at the MCESD meeting were the Minister for Finance and Employment Clyde Caruana and the Parliamentary Secretary for Social Dialogue Andy Ellul.

The proposals presented by the members of MCESD were drawn up in the context of the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Malta is now facing a fragile international environment with surging inflation and a prolonged Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Minister Clyde Caruana explained how despite all the help that this government has given and is still giving, the finances of our country are still strong and can withstand the challenges that we have before us. He explained that despite this, the next budget will be another budget without new taxes or burdens. This gives peace of mind both to the citizens and to the commercial community of our country the Minister said.

Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul said that even though the world is currently going through several challenges, the government will continue to help through various measures to continue guaranteeing jobs for Maltese and Gozitans. He stressed that “We must continue to rope in new niches as we are already doing in tourism, in the film industry, and in aviation, among others, to continue growing the Maltese economy.

The Chairperson of MCESD James Pearsall stressed that this meeting served as an interesting discussion on the situation in which the country finds itself, as well as the situation and the international scenario that we have evolving around us.