[attach id=246070 size="medium"]Finance Minister Edward Scicluna. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi[/attach]
The Government will do its best to present the same Budget for 2013 as the one presented last November, even though the scenario has changed since then, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna has told The Sunday Times.
“We will be as faithful as possible to implement our electoral promise to present the Budget as it was presented last November, with the exception of taxing minimum wage earners, but there have been developments since then,” Prof. Scicluna said.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Friday told a press conference that Malta’s fiscal deficit for 2012 would probably be in the region of between three and 3.5 per cent of GDP, way above the 2.3 per cent estimate for the year.
The Budget for 2013, to be presented by Prof. Scicluna in Parliament tomorrow, was first presented by the previous Nationalist Government.
The present Budget is out of date
However, it was defeated when PN backbencher Franco Debono joined the then Labour Opposition in voting against it.
“Since November’s Budget was defeated, certain fiscal measures announced in November were not implemented and there has been a loss of revenue.
An updated picture has to be given of the situation.
“Furthermore, we went through a long electoral campaign and some new commitments as well as new contractual agreements – there are several of these – were made.These have to be taken into consideration. The present Budget is out of date,” he said.
Asked if this meant the Government was considering introducing new taxes, Prof. Scicluna said: “No, there will be no new tax measures but there will be revenue and expenditure changes and updates.”
Prof. Scicluna said a number of unclear issues that emerged from the last Budget would have to be clarified, such as the removal of tax on inherited property.
“It was not clear whether the tax to be removed on inherited property referred to residential properties or all types of property. This will be clarified in tomorrow’s Budget.”
The Finance Minister said fiscal prudence, macroeconomic stability and financial sustainability will be the hallmark of the new Government’s economic policy, which he will highlight in his speech in Parliament.
Prof. Scicluna said the Government’s projections for economic growth and the fiscal deficit would depend on the latest economic figures.
He added: “Economic growth should be brought about in a structured manner and our targets should be realistic and sustainable. It is very important to stress that in order to help economic growth the country’s debt ratio needs to start decreasing.
“It is also vital not to create distortions in the economy and to increase the country’s potential for economic growth. These are points I will emphasise in my speech tomorrow.”