Budget consultation sessions organised by the Finance Ministry as well as printed material and advertising on social media cost the exchequer €440,000, according to information given in Parliament. 

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana told Nationalist Party MP Karol Aquilina on Wednesday that the logistics alone for the budget consultation sessions cost €206,067, with the ministry also spending just over €138,000 on media advertising, sponsored content on social media and distributing budget material to households. 

The budget 2022 logo and slogan.

The design and printing of Budget 2022-related material cost almost €95,000.

When the €440,000 spent is broken down into percentages, the government spent just over 59% of that allocation on logistics for its consultation meetings, 31% on advertising and distribution of material, and the remaining 22% on printing and design of budget material. 

The government presented its budget for 2022 on October 12. 

Reacting to the news in a Facebook post, Opposition leader Bernard Grech said that this amount was "over and above the hijacking of the public broadcaster, which is funded by taxpayers."

"We believe that taxpayer money should be re-invested in initiatives for the common good, such as salary increases for educators and front-liners, and initiatives for our youth, and not on propaganda. This is money that could have, and should have, been spent on the common good. It is shameful that €438,804 is spent on government propaganda," he said.