Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said today that increases in indirect taxation will be made on a gradual basis to avoid shocks to the economy.

Addressing the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development (MCESD), Prof Scicluna said that while reducing the deficit by some €50 million next year, the government would have to find other sources of revenue and that was why it would be shifting its taxation policies toward an increase in indirect taxes.

However, Prof Scicluna fell short of spelling out which indirect taxes he would be increasing or introducing.

In a report sent to Brussels earlier this month, the government stated that it had already approved various measures to  increase its revenue by some €50 million in 2014. In the documents it was stated that while an extra €15 million would come from an increase from fees of office, an extra €35 million would be coming from new measures of indirect taxes.

Prof Scicluna told the MCESD that the government was still studying the list of measures to be introduced.

In its document to Brussels, the government also said that it was planning to increase the tax burden by 1 per cent of GDP in 2014.