The Chamber of Commerce has again today expressed “its grave concern about the possibility of the 2013 Budget being rejected by Parliament”.

In a statement it said that the potential consequences of interrupting the smooth continuity of business were too large to contemplate.

“Tax and duty collection, for instance, may be thrown into disarray to the detriment of public coffers, fiscal morality and the reputation of the country as a stable destination for business.

“Other areas such as incentives for business, training programmes and social security benefits will all be at risk. The country so far has weathered the international storm as a result of private sector initiative. Malta must not risk being thrown in a similar predicament as some of its close neighbours due to political differences,” it said.

The chamber speaks for said that the private sector was an innocent party in the matter and must not be made to suffer the consequences of political differences.

“If we truly believe that the private sector is the motor of the economy, we must not undermine its past efforts which served to keep the county well afloat through such challenging times whilst other larger economies succumbed.

“Seeing our efforts go to waste is not the way to encourage private sector initiative,” it said adding that the national interest and economic well-being had to prevail over any political differences.

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