The main thrust of tomorrow’s Budget will be bettering the quality of people’s lives, such as by improving roads and traffic management, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna told The Sunday Times of Malta yesterday.

“Tomorrow’s Budget is the first of the new legislature, and I consider the four budgets of the previous Parliament to be a closed chapter. Now that we have achieved impressive economic growth and reached cruising speed, we can afford to look at how we can improve people’s quality of life.

“I am talking mainly about the infrastructure, traffic congestion, roads, public transport and the environment,” Prof. Scicluna said.

The Finance Minister said that Malta’s economic growth over the past four years had been remarkable but such massive growth caused environmental and infrastructural problems, and these needed to be addressed.

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The Budget will also tackle further income distribution to ensure more people benefit from Malta’s economic performance.

Regarding fiscal measures, Prof. Scicluna said the government would decide which electoral programme pledges to implement in this first Budget since the general election.

Labour’s electoral programme contains various proposals which affect workers, pensioners, students and other specific groups in Maltese society.

Asked if the government’s surplus would mean increased spending on infrastructure and help for those at the bottom of the economic ladder, Prof. Scicluna replied: “The government’s surplus does not mean we have a blank cheque and we are determined never to return to the days of deficit spending.

“The surplus means that we can now not only pay the interest on the country’s debt but the debt itself, which is a very good economic indicator.”