Prime Minister Robert Abela has said that the upcoming budget that will be unveiled in October will include the biggest tax cut in the country's history for the middle class.
Abela made the statement during an interview on ONE Radio while speaking about the middle class. "The success of this government was managing to widen the middle class. Many people feel that they belong to the middle class, which is really positive. You can ask me, what specifically will we do to address this particular section of our people? What we are seeing is the biggest tax cut ever given in the history of our country which will be announced in the coming budget. This means that in the coming budget in October, we will be touching the tax bands, widening them in a way that incentivizes the middle class." It won't just be the middle class that benefits, he said, "but the middle class will benefit well."
He did not provide any further details on what exactly the government's plans are.
He said that he wanted to continue giving courage to this section of the society and improving their quality of life.
The Prime Minister spoke about the support the government has given to help fight inflation.
He said that for four years energy prices have remained stable. Now, international fuel prices and energy prices are high, he said, while in Malta the prices are kept stable.
He said that while the people saw support on energy and fuels, there was another phenomenon that appeared, that of food inflation. He said the government introduced the Stabbiltà initiative, which saw food inflation reduce, and he said that this initiative will be sustained for as long as it is needed. He said that overall inflation, from 5.6% last year has reduced to 2%.
"Another reality that needs to be addressed is the increase in prices of property and accommodation in terms of rents. There we introduced a number of schemes to incentivize first- and second-time buyers and these were incentives we kept going from one budget to the next." He mentioned other incentives such as for people buying a residence in Urban Conservation Areas.
He said that the country is in a fiscally strong position and that is why the government needs to continue incentivising people. He said that the country reached the 2% inflation target months earlier than planned, "but we still need to work hard to continue carrying the weight of this phenomenon and reduce the weight on the people."
The Prime Minister, asked about economic growth, said that the reason the government was able to introduce so many initiatives over the years was thanks to having a strong economy with strong local and foreign investment into the country. The wealth generated through the taxes brought in from that can then be distributed justly, as much as possible with all of society, he said. "I still believe that the ones who need to benefit most from that wealth are the lower class as they need the most support."
"Even in the coming budget, while we will ensure that together with the strengthening we will give the middle class and businesses, we must give the biggest support to the lower class if we truly want to remain proud socialists, and that is what we will do."
Economic growth, he said, brings with it certain challenges, such as pressure on road and medical infrastructure. "The success there would be not to allow challenges to remain challenges, but to convert them into opportunities." He said this can be done by looking at an economy that can be grown by investing in quality and not quantity.
"The process we are in is aiming our economy more towards quality than quantity. You could ask me, but over the years were there moments where instead of quality we moved towards quantity? Ten years ago we had an economy that didn't have quantity nor quality. Our economy needed a kickstart. That kickstart worked. As time passes, the country's economic model needs to be adjusted according to the circumstances, and for the past months we are seeing a push more towards quality while also looking at profiling of the job market and at which sectors need foreign workers to supplement the local workforce, and those that do not need more foreign workers."
He said that the profiling is being done sector by sector by JobsPlus. "The analysis shows that there are sectors, like the health sector, where human resources from foreign countries are needed to supplement the local human resources, but then there are other sectors which are saturated, where there are enough workers that are meeting the needs of that sector." He mentioned two examples, food couriers and Y-plate services.
In those two sectors, he said, employers cannot bring in more third country national workers. Abela said that the government is not saying it will eliminate these sectors.
Abela also spoke of the need of treating foreign workers with the same dignity all workers receive. He said that a few people were bringing in as many workers as they can but were indifferent to their working conditions or maltreated them. "The second message being sent to people bringing in workers is to treat them well, give them good working conditions."
He also spoke about the economic niches the country wants to incentivize the most, such as the renewable energy sector, which are not dependent on volumes of workers to operate but depend on a lower number of workers with higher qualifications. "That is why it is important to continue investing in the education of our students so that our youths can take up the best opportunities." He said that 96% of Maltese graduates find work immediately.
Abela was asked about the news that an ambulance was delayed in attending to a patient by tables and chairs obstructing St Lucia Street in Valletta. Abela said that "the authorities acted immediately and saw that the business concerned regularised itself. When talking about the tables and chairs question, work intensified over the past weeks. We saw the work in St George's square in Gozo where you had a particular business that, after enforcement, again committed irregularities, and again there was enforcement. That is how we plan to work."