The tax refund and supplementary cheques promised in February will be distributed before election day, said Prime Minister Robert Abela on Tuesday.

Asked by The Malta Independent whether the distribution of the two "gifts" from the government during the campaign can be considered as an abuse of power, Abela said that the distribution of both cheques should not be postponed.

The tax refund and the supplementary cheques for a total of €70 million, from which 380,000 people will benefit.

“Naturally if we are going to constantly talk about this every time we have distributed such cheques, the whole legislature can be considered as being an election campaign because we were consistent about it (handing out tax refunds and cheques),” he said.

Before the election date was announced, Abela had said that workers and students would be receiving cheques worth €100, whilst pensioners would be receiving up to €200 as an incentive to boost the economy. This would be over and above the tax refunds which will also be distributed.

He added that the constant decrease in tax rates had stimulated more people to work.

But, in spite of reducing taxes, the government's income from tax increased to €1.9 billion this year from the €1.2 billion in 2016.

Asked to comment about the PN's declaration that the government was giving tax refunds after "stealing" from the people in the payments of income tax, Abela said that this was a spin created by the PN. The government was not stealing from the people, he said.