Finance minister Clyde Caruana unveiled the 2025 budget on Monday evening.

In a speech that lasted over two hours, Caruana laid down the government’s new measures intended to slash taxes, push people into having more children, and up pensions.

But the budget contained few new measures when it comes to the environment, tourism, and transport, amongst other areas.

Here are the key measures that will affect your life in the next year.  

For workers

• Income tax bands widened, promising to save each worker at least €475.
• Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2025 will be €5.24 per week.
• €48m worth of COLA Plus payments to be given to 100,000 households, each receiving between €100 and €1,500 each year. This measure is identical to the measure introduced in last year’s budget.
• Minimum wage to increase by €8.24 per week, to reach €221.78 weekly, as previously agreed with social partners.

File photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Parents

• Children’s allowance to increase by €250 for each child.
• Parents to receive €1,500 if they have a third child (or fourth, fifth, or more, if they’re feeling brave). This is in addition to the existing grants of €500 for their first and  €1,000 for a second child.
• Children with disability allowance to increase by €5 weekly to reach €35 per week, benefiting 2,510 children.
• Marriage allowance to rise by €170 to reach €500 each person (or €1,000 for a couple).
• People undergoing IVF treatment to benefit from 100 hours of paid leave for each treatment cycle (60 hours for the prospective mother and 40 hours for their partner). This will also apply to self-employed women, starting from next year.
• Foster parents to get an additional €10 per week, rising to €6,240 yearly for each child fostered.
• Tax credit increase of €250 for parents whose children attend specialised therapy.

File photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Property

• OHSA to open a new branch in Gozo.
• Existing fiscal incentives to be renewed, including restoration grants for older properties in conservation areas.

 Transport

• Grants for electric vehicles to dip to €8,000, down from the previous €11,000. Grants for electric motorcycles to be capped at €2,000.
• Sliema and Cospicua to get underground parking near ferry landings. 

File photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Pensions & the elderly

• Pensions to increase by €8 per week (or €416 across the year), including COLA.
• Government to enroll its workers in occupational pension schemes and match monthly contributions of up to €100.
• NI contributions for people born in and after 1976 to increase by a year to 42 years to qualify for a full pension.
• Widow’s pension to rise by €3 each week, benefiting 7,500 widowers across the country.
• National insurance exemptions for service pensions to rise by €200, now reaching €3,666, benefiting 3,250 service pensioners.
• Bonuses for people who didn’t pay enough national insurance contributions throughout their lifetime, some 16,000 people, mostly married women, will rise to €1,000 for people with nine years of contributions.
• Allowance for people aged between 75 and 79 who live at home to increase by €50 to reach €350. Those over the age of 80 will again receive €450. 

File photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Education

• All children in primary, middle and secondary schools will be given a €20 book voucher to be spent at the 2025 Malta Book Festival.
• Children from disadvantaged backgrounds who are part of the Scheme 9 programme to be give a “home library” i.e. €150 worth of books.
• Tax credits for parents of children in private schools, from €3,500 for children in kindergarten to €4,600 in primary school and €6,500 in secondary school.
  File photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Environment

• 19 Project Green open spaces to open in 2025.
• Developable government plots of land in Luqa, Lija, St Julian's and Kirkop to be turned into open spaces.

File photo: Neville Borg

Energy

• Existing grants for photovoltaic panels, battery storage and solar water heaters, among others, to remain in place.
• Work on offshore wind turbines and second interconnector to continue.

File photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Health

• €14m allocated for collaboration with private health sector to cut down on waiting lists for certain medical procedures.
• €4.5m put towards programmes bringing mental health services close to the homes of those in need and sessions through video calls.
• Women’s sanitary products to be made tax-free, together with medical accessories used by female cancer patients.
• Anyone filing a domestic violence report will be given a panic alarm button which will alert law enforcement whenever pressed.

File photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

Industry

• Incubator to help startups expand their operations to be set up in Ħal Far.
• Work on SME park in Ħal Far to continue, aimed at panel beating, carpentry, and spraying services away from residential zones.

File photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Arts, Culture & Sport

• Youths between the ages of 18 and 20 (born between 2005 and 2007) to be given a free six-month gym membership.
• First phase of National Motorsport Centre works to begin in 2025.
• Works on the Marsa Culture Hub to finally get off the ground, with the help of €15m in EU funding.
• Local film fund to double to reach €2m.

File photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

Tourism, Gozo and agriculture

• Conservation works on aqueducts leading from Rabat, Gozo to Ta' Pinu to be carried out.
• Works on Gozo Museum to continue.
• Food Security Authority to open in 2025, to act as a regulator and ensure food security in case of crisis.