The government will announce the country’s budget for 2022 this evening in Parliament.

This will be Finance Minister Clyde Caruana’s first budget, after taking over the post from the previous minister, Edward Scicluna.

Over the past month, organisations as well as the Opposition have been giving their ideas and opinions of what they believe should be included in this year’s budget.

It is the last budget before the next election, which has to be held, at the latest, by September 2022. But speculation is rife that Prime Minister Robert Abela will make the call long before that. The fact that Pope Francis' visit has been postponed from December to the first quarter of next year has led many to think that the election could be held as early as this November.

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has already said that the budget for 2022 will be another without an increase in taxes.

Caruana had said that the motto for this budget was: “The country you wish to leave for your children”. Although the country is recovering economically from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, proper investments in key sectors, especially in terms of employment need to be proposed, Caruana had said. Employment and skills seem to be two issues which the budget will likely have a focus on, given the way the Finance Minister spoke about them recently.

The government also invested heavily in supporting businesses throughout the pandemic. Restrictions have been eased, and one awaits to see what kind of support businesses can expect to continue to receive. Speaking during the launch of the pre-budget document back in September, Caruana had said that during the pandemic, the expenditure rose exponentially. The income the government has also decreased and therefore without a doubt Malta returned to a state of deficit. “Although there were critics of the expenditure of the government, experience has shown that countries whose governments properly invested in a strong employment industry saw the economy bounce back.”

The Malta Independent will keep readers informed with the latest budget news on our website www.independent.com.mt