The budget for next year will include new tax refunds as per the Labour Party electoral pledge, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Sunday morning.

Speaking on the PL radio station, Muscat reiterated that through the positive moves the government has made, there could be overall increases in pensions, benefits, services, and improvements to infrastructure.

“The government has two ways to generate wealth – either by tax hikes or economic growth. Our policy is not to increase taxes. I can announce that in the upcoming budget we will continue to work on our electoral mandate and lower taxes by implementing the second instalment of tax refunds.”

He further emphasised the importance of strengthening the economy by creating jobs through as many avenues as possible.

“To do all this we need the economy to grow, and we do this by creating jobs. We do this by not only by increasing jobs in existing sectors but also by creating new sectors. My job is to go to countries with which we have a good relationship, and those with whom we can improve our standing, so that I can help Maltese businesses sell more of their products. When people insult me and call me a salesman, I take it as a compliment.”

Muscat mentioned his recent trip to Japan, where he was accompanied by a trade delegation, and also mentioned Malta’s blockchain legislation, which has garnered interest from other countries.

The issues surrounding tuna farms were also raised, with Muscat warning that economic success must not come at the detriment of the environment. He reiterated that the government will be taking steps to ensure that the slime coming from the farms will not happen again.

 

Statistics on poverty

Moving onto the recent publishing of the statistics on poverty, Muscat noted that through his politics, 16,000 individuals were raised out of the risk of poverty over the past 5 years. This, he said, was done by taking special care of not only noting how wealth is created, but also how it is spent.

“If four years ago there were three people who could not afford basic necessities, that number has now been reduced to one person. Our job now is to make sure that that number does not grow again.”

He also mentioned the report by Fitch, which once again gave Malta an A+ rating, pointing out that investors always keep an eye on such agencies as they tend to give objective analysis.

 

Price of fuel

Asked on the increase in price on fuel, Muscat reiterated that the government’s work has always focused on stability. “Our politics on fuel is based on stability. The most important thing is that one can plan long-term without worrying about any bumps in the road.”

He said the price of fuel had been stable for 82 weeks, in spite of the international price being raised significantly. This, he said, is clearly visible by looking at the massive difference between the price of fuel in Malta, and that of the rest of the member states of the EU.

The Maltese consumer is currently paying 9c less for petrol, and 11c5 less for diesel when compared to the EU median.

 

Egrant

Asked to comment on the steps taken by the Nationalist party in respect to Simon Busuttil and the Egrant revelations, the Prime Minister was clear in his annoyance at the support being shown by Busuttil’s colleagues.

“The Opposition decided to support Simon Busuttil’s actions, thus, Adrian Delia and the Opposition have made that lie their own. They had the opportunity to make the perpetrators of the lie take responsibility for what he did, but instead they decided to support him, and make him the new leader of the opposition. A lie that was supported by falsified documents, with the aim of destabilising the country.”