European Commission finds Budget 2017 ‘broadly compliant’

The European Commission has approved Malta’s national budget for 2017, classifying it as ‘broadly compliant’ along with those submitted by Ireland, Austria and Latvia according to a statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

In its technical report, the commission concluded that ‘the planned structural adjustment is in line with the required adjustment path’ and that Malta is ‘expected to comply with the debt reduction benchmark in 2016’.

The OPM said that the commission is optimistic about the proposed budget since for the first time since 1998, the country’s national debt will fall below the 60% mark.

“Even on Malta’s economic outlook, the commission’s experts are optimistic about the government’s estimates. This year, the commission is estimating a growth of 4.1% as opposed to the 3.9% being projected by the government and in 2017, the EU’s estimate is 3.7% to Malta’s 3.5%,” read the statement.

The report estimates that inflation will fall to 1.0% in 2016 and to rise to 1.5% in 2017.

The commission’s report also said that Malta has the lowest tax burden on workers in the EU, with the tax burden in Malta standing at approximately half the EU average.

The OPM said that this was a positive judgement by the commission that reflects the faith and change in direction that the current administration has brought about.