Pensions reform consultation 'extended'

The pensions reform was discussed at the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development and there was a request for the consultation process to be extended a bit more, Social Policy Minister Dolores Cristina said.

Speaking at the Msida PN club, she said the reform would be underway as soon as the consultation process is concluded.

The government had decided that current pensioners would not be affected by the reform while those over 55 would be unaffected "or marginally affected".

Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said a CNN crew will be in Malta shortly to shoot film footage for a Malta Tourism Authority campaign to be aired by the international news network.

As the parties started their local election campaigns, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg stressed the Nationalist Party's commitment to funding local councils.

"The PN doubled the amount of money allocated to local councils over a period of eight years and it also gave them the opportunity to raise funds through licences and traffic fines. It was the Labour Party which reduced their budget by Lm2 million in two successive budgets," Dr Borg said.