The Budget for 2017 was approved in parliament today in a laborious procedural process which saw MPs voting some 40 times and the Acting Speaker changing chairs so many times that, in his words, it had ceased being physical exercise and had become a hassle.
The Budget was moved on October 17 and approved today, weeks after the conclusion of the debate, because approval by the European Commission was needed first.
The sitting today was presided by Nationalist MP Ċensu Galea since the Speaker is attending a conference in Washington. Mr Galea is also chairman of committees.
In terms of a procedural motion approved before the Budget debate, all votes related to the Budget had to be taken today, meaning that the MPs faced a myriad of votes for each ministry, plus the motions moved by the opposition for the deduction of one euro from each minister's salary as a sign of no confidence. That was followed by the Appropriation Bill and supplementary estimates.
The Speaker presides the House when the Appropriation Bill and supplementary estimates are moved while the committee stages are presided by the Deputy Speaker - meaning that Mr Galea today had to repeatedly move from one chair to the next, a process he carried out with his usual good humour, especially when he asked the Finance Minister to report progress every time.
The government motions were approved with 37 votes for and 31 votes against and the opposition motions were defeated by the same margin.
The Clerk of the House was spared the need to read out the names of all the MPs for each and every vote - a process which left him hoarse in previous years. Electronic voting has now established itself in the House.
The Appropriation Bill covered expenditure of €2.8 billion while the Supplementary Estimates for 2016, amounting to €141.5 million.
The government has described the 2017 Budget as a 'social' budget' offering benefits to pensioners and those within low income tax brackets.
Measures to be introduced in the coming year range from higher pensions and new allowances to low income persons to reductions in capital transfer duty for property purchases in Gozo to a reduction in duty on the transfer of business from parents to their children.
Incentives will be introduced to promote private pension schemes in the form of tax credits for employers.
New revenue-raising measures include excise duty on construction materials, cigarettes, detergents and non-alcoholic drinks.