Updated 10.10pm - Added video
People had no need to do their sums and work out whether Budget 2018 would leave them better off, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.
"There's no need for calculations this time round," he said. "This Budget only gave, it didn't take anything [from citizens]."
In a press conference held shortly after his Finance Minister Edward Scicluna concluded his Budget 2018 speech, the Prime Minister said citizens could see where the fiscal surplus was being spent and that the Budget was the result of a focused government.
"We are beating the [economic] model," he said when asked how projections for the Consolidated Fund had shifted out of the red and into surplus territory.
Finance Minister Edward Scicluna agreed, saying the economy had picked up speed and was now generating higher rates of revenue, despite no taxation increases.
New sectors
Asked what new economic sectors this Budget sought to encourage, the two men pointed to medical and educational tourism, as well as measures to develop a blockchain hub.
Dr Muscat expressed confidence that offering postgraduates tax breaks would encourage them to remain in Malta and provide the country with a competitive advantage when compared to other countries that sought to lure local talent.
Rental measures
Asked whether forcing landlords to register rental properties would lead to them passing on tax burdens to tenants by inflating rental prices, Dr Muscat expressed optimism this would not happen.
The 15% rental tax rate was not overly high, he said, and the government was opting for a "carrot and stick approach" to bring landlords determined to evade tax into line.
At the same time, landlords needed to be protected from non-paying tenants and the government was determined to do so.
The White Paper announced, he specified, would not delve into rental rates.
Dr Muscat said the government had decided to spread the benefits of a strong economy among all pensioners, rather than just those on a contributory pension.
Fuel prices
When asked why fuel prices had not been reduced, Dr Muscat said that Malta had enjoyed consistently low pump prices over the past years.
"Being criticised for not reducing a price, rather than for raising one, shows just how strong this Budget is," he added.
Deborah Schembri
Dr Muscat defended the decision to hand former parliamentary secretary Deborah Schembri lucrative jobs with the Lands and Planning Authorities. Dr Schembri was heavily involved in drafting lands and planning laws, he said.
"We would be irresponsible to have a person who knew these laws up and down and we didn't use their expertise."
He also insisted there was no bad blood between himself and deputy prime minister Chris Fearne, after it was pointed out to him that in previous budgets his deputy prime minister - previously Louis Grech - had stood alongside him.
Budget highlights
Dr Muscat began his press conference by highlighting some of the Budget measures which, he said, would most benefit citizens.
He touched on measures which will grant every worker an extra day of holiday leave, as well as a decision to increase pensions by €2 a week over and above increases due under the cost of living adjustment mechanisms.
He also spoke of measures which would help property owners buy a second house when they decided to sell their first one, and said the government would be expanding social housing policies through "innovative" measures.
These include a scheme whereby pensioners who lived in social housing but are now in nursing homes can keep more of their pension if they decide to hand over the keys to their residence, as well as incentives for landlords to spruce up properties and offer them to the government for social housing purposes on 10-year contracts.
Dr Muscat said the government would soon set a cut-off date for petrol and diesel engine vehicles, following in the footsteps of countries such as France and Sweden, which have already established target dates.
The Prime Minister added that the government had no intention of going on a "spending spree," arguing that the government's plans were working just fine.