A Malta Council for Economic and Social Development meeting is to be convened this week before the Budget is presented to Parliament on April 8, The Sunday Times has learnt.
The meeting was requested by several social partners, including the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Enterprise, which wrote to Social Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat almost two weeks ago.
The majority of social partners contacted by this newspaper said they were expecting a meeting to be convened before the Budget is presented to Parliament.
They want assurances that the only change in the Budget presented by the previous Administration in December is the adjustment to ensure minimum wage earners do not pay income tax.
Replying to questions by The Sunday Times, a government spokesman provided this assurance. All other measures will be retained.
Only the General Workers’ Union, the Malta Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises (GRTU) and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants and Association did not see the need for an MCESD meeting prior to the Budget.
The rest of the social partners sitting on the Government’s consultative body wanted a meeting with Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, not necessarily only on the Budget but also to hear more about the Government’s economic vision.
The director general of the Malta Employers’ Association, Joe Farrugia, said the meeting must be held out of respect for social dialogue.
Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association president Tony Zahra described the income tax measure affecting minimum wage earners as “an oversight” by the previous government which, instead of admitting so, resorted to “beating about the bush”.
He said the MCESD should meet as soon as possible not necessarily to discuss the Budget but to talk about other economic and social issues, including whether the Government should still have 29,000 employees.
For Vince Farrugia, the GRTU director general, what mattered most was not the Budget per se but the speed at which the initiatives are implemented.