It's that time of the year when you sit in front of a laptop or TV and wonder whether your salary/pension/allowance/guilty pleasure would be impacted next year. Herman Grech will update you as it happens.
9.25pm: It's not over yet. The Prime Minister and the Opposition leader will now hold their press conferences. Tomorrow's edition of Times of Malta will carry a 20-page supplement detailing the salient parts of the 2017 Budget. We've got an online poll going, and we'd like to know what you think of the Budget.
READ: Budget made possible by deficit reduction - PM
READ: A 'cosmetic' budget with no vision - Busuttil
9.15pm: So what's the verdict? There is no doubt that this was a social budget intended to help the more vulnerable. Some are saying that this was an election budget, others are wondering why certain taxes/tariffs weren't cut if the economy was really doing well. This Facebook post might sum up our way of doing politics:
9.10pm: And after two hours 40 minutes, Scicluna wraps up his Budget speech by saying "we're spreading wealth for everybody". Cue: Government MPs bang on their desks, but it's been one of the less rowdy budgets in recent years.
9.05pm: While Scicluna has been giving his Budget speech, several MPs have been busy out-tweeting each other.
9pm: On a more serious note, a public consultation will be held next year to enable workers to use their sick leave to care for ill children, a proposal which has run into opposition from employers.
To engage more people to take up sport, an indoor pool will be built at the Cottonera Sports Complex, a public call be issued for a shooting range, and a football ground and a pool will be built in Marsascala. No final word on the very controversial race track.
The government will embark on a major six-year plan worth €23 million to upgrade lifts in some 205 social housing units.
8.55pm: Unless the minister wraps up his speech in five minutes he will lose an army of football lovers as Manchester United take on Liverpool.
8.48pm: Scicluna says wardens will start issuing warning tickets instead of fines for minor contraventions, and will start clamping down on environmental crimes. Tens of thousands of small-time offenders applaud. But on a good note, no smoking will be permitted in cars carrying children.
8.45pm: Meanwhile, Malta's Budget has been noted in Ireland. Fingal councillor Keith Redmond – an independent councillor who made headlines in 2015 for a tweet in which he slammed ‘feminazis’ for opposing page 3 topless girls - says a lot of innovative measures are being announced in Malta’s budget.
8.40pm: The former military hospital in Mtarfa, where many of us were born, could soon be turned into a private school, while yacht marina will be built in Gżira and possibly Marsascala.
8.32pm: The construction sector remains high on the government's agenda. In collaboration with the Malta Developers Association, the government will set up ‘Property Malta’, an agency aimed at encouraging foreigners to move to Malta. Within seconds, the developers issue a statement praising the Budget.
8.30pm: While the minister has been reading out his Budget speech for the last two hours:chemical company BASF confirmed two people died in factory explosions in Germany; a retired US general was charged with lying to the FBI; Danish police detained a man suspected of bomb hoaxes; UKIP’s Steven Woolfe bowed out of a leadership race and Russia said it would stop bombing Aleppo... for eight hours!
8.20pm: Geological tests will start on the feasibility of a tunnel between Malta and Gozo, with a possible public call for businesses interested in building and operating the controversial tunnel.
8.12pm: Yes, you've heard right - the government wants to create new green areas in Swatar, Cospicua, Wied Blandun, Baħar ic-Cagħaq and the Mater Dei areas.... localities packed with thousands of buildings. Take a look at this Google map of Swatar, and you'll realise that squeezing a green area in there might be a tad impossible.
8.05pm: The government’s decision to post English language #budget2017 tweets gets the thumbs up from an English woman.
8pm: In case you're wondering, no there won't be any cuts in energy bills, but Scicluna says households will be able to invest in 'solar bonds' and benefit from the yield on photovoltaic installations installed in public spaces.
Minister Konrad Mizzi applauds:
Meanwhile, MEP Therese Comodini Cachia embeds a somewhat photo-shopped picture of the prime minister:
But:
7.55pm: Minister's still reading the Budget speech, but you probably know how it's impacting you. So we've just uploaded a new online poll. Just go to the widget on your left and click!
7.50pm: Sticky issue here: traffic! Scicluna says there's been an increase of 12,000 cars in a year. In an attempt to drive down traffic, all 18-year-olds will be given a year gratis on public transport. Government entities employing more than 50 workers will be providing free transport.
7.35pm: As Scicluna announces the building of three new schools, Nationalist MP Kristy Debono tweets:
7.30pm: Amid the sound of banging on the parliament benches, the Prime Minister is heard saying: "kemm baqa". We couldn't verify if he was referring to the length of this Budget speech.
7.25pm: Before we're criticised for the (sometimes) frivolous reporting on this commentary, we're also carrying more serious and straight-to-the-point reports online.
7.23pm: Patients with the worst forms of disability will see their social benefits rise to the level of the minimum wage. Benefits will also be introduced for amputees, who will also be eligible for more free medicines.
Fifth form students attending alternative learning programme classes will now also be entitled to stipends.
7.20pm: The Nationalist Party is not impressed with the new taxes announced so far:
7.15pm: Scicluna will be popular among many elderly people this evening as he announces that pensioners' income up to €13,000 will be exempt from income tax. Women who did not pay enough social security contributions to qualify for a pension will see an increase of €50 while pension disparities between men and women will be removed. The in-work benefit for low-income parents with children will be increased by €200 to €1,200. Working single parents will see an increase of €50 a year to €1,250.
7.12pm: Supplementary allowance will be extended to include single low-income earners with no children. That's 27,000 people impacted.
Taking these benefit increases as well as the COLA compensation into account, Scicluna says that people on the minimum wage will effectively see their weekly income rise by €4 – essentially increasing the minimum wage without burdening employers.
Rent subsidies for low-income earners living in private residences will double – from a monthly maximum of €83 to €166. The means test to assess who qualifies for the scheme will also be drastically revised.
7.08pm: Our reporter Philip Leone Ganado has his COLA all mapped out.
7.06pm: The government will be facilitating the transfer of family businesses from parents to their children by reducing the tax on such a transfer to 1.5 per cent from the current five per cent.
7.05pm: An applause is heard from Gozo. All property bought on the island will be taxed at two per cent, instead of five per cent.
7.05pm: But if you're building that maisonette in a field somewhere you won't be pleased to know that a new tax will now be levied on building materials, including steel structures, glass and tiles, with the money raised going towards environmental projects. Scicluna says the measure is intended to target especially large projects. And there are plenty of big construction projects in Malta!
7.03pm: If you're a first-time buyer and still wondering whether you should buy that two-bedroom flat in Buġibba, you've just been given some more leeway. You will be exempt from paying stamp duty in 2017 as well.
7.02pm: A tax is being levied on non-alcoholic drinks (this is not a sugar tax) equivalent to 2c a litre. This will not impact mineral water. And of course, smokers - you will be expected to cough up. If our calculations are correct, that's another 30c or so extra a packet.
7pm: Meanwhile, the satirical online paper Leħen id-Dnewwa weighs in on this evening's Budget.
6.55pm: The Cost of Living Allowance is €1.75 a week.
6.50pm: Scicluna lauds the fiscal state. Thanks to a growing economy, the targeted deficit of 1.1 per cent for 2016 will actually be down to 0.7 per cent. Next year's target will be 0.5 per cent of GDP. Debt is down to 61 per cent.
6.45pm: It's clearly going to be a Budget intended to help the more vulnerable of society. As John Lennon famously said: “For those of you in the cheap seats I'd like ya to clap your hands to this one; the rest of you can just rattle your jewellery!”
6.38pm: Minister starts the 141-page Budget speech by saying Malta is doing so well economically, that several issues, which are a major cause of concern in other EU countries, are being taken for granted by many Maltese families.
6.25pm: Finance Minister Edward Scicluna will soon walk into parliament to deliver the Labour government's fourth Budget. And in true Maltese tradition, our sources say it's going to be another long, very long speech, possibly ending just before the Manchester Utd vs Liverpool clash. Just to put things into perspective, the British Chancellor's last budget speech last February lasted.... 63 minutes!
6.15pm: If you have anything to say about the Budget, tweet with the hashtag #budget2017, #budget17 or #Malta2017 and you never know... your comment might be picked up.
6.10pm: Welcome to our live commentary of the 2017 Budget. We've already been given a sneak peak but we're afraid we've been sworn to secrecy about its contents. So buckle up and join us on this fiscal ride for the next couple of hours. We will try to avoid the traffic.