Clyde Caruana calls out Opposition for not costing its proposals

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana called out the Opposition for preaching sustainability but not costing its proposals for the budget.

“For every measure announced, I explained how much it would cost and how many people would benefit in order to ensure transparency. On the contrary, the opposition never said how many people would benefit and how much their measures would cost,” Caruana said.

He said that while the Opposition stressed on the deficit and the government's ‘spending spree’, thousands of jobs were saved. “Our message was clear that the government did everything possible to save the work force, with the unemployment rate being less than that before the pandemic.”

Caruana said that as per the budget speech, the deficit should be at around 5.6%, but could increase by 1.4 percentage points due to the rising energy prices.

He stressed on the importance of the national policy on the work market, that sees an increased input of working hours and the upskilling of Maltese workers.

“We are recognising the challenge and proposing how the Maltese can move up the social mobility ladder,” concluded Caruana.

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