The government's budget for 2010 will be presented in Parliament on November 9, The Times has learnt.

Official sources said the budget will be mainly focused on reducing government expenditure and will not include any tax increases.

This is the second budget of this legislature and the second one to be presented by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech.

When planning next year's budget, the government will have to keep in mind the European Commission's demand for Malta to regularise its budget deficit - which last year stood at 4.7 per cent of GDP - by the end of next year.

The government is forecasting a deficit of 3.8 per cent for this year and estimates that the deficit will be close to the three per cent EU threshold by the end of next year - at around 3.3 per cent.

Earlier this month Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi officially ruled out any tax increases in the next budget and said the government's aim was to tackle the deficit by controlling expenditure.

Tax cuts have also been ruled out with the Finance Minister saying that the present economic situation did not permit such fiscal measures.