The government has scrapped plans for a mini-budget to announce new measures to boost economic recovery but will instead announce its measures in a statement by the prime minister on Monday.

Informed sources said that following agreement between the government and the opposition, a debate on the government measures will be held in parliament on Wednesday.

Robert Abela last week had announced that the government would present a 'multi-million' budget with its latest measures to help businesses and encourage consumption.

But his plans ran into procedural hurdles after the government told the opposition that its intention was to have an address by the finance minister, followed by a reaction by the Opposition leader and winding-up by the prime minister all in the same parliamentary sitting.

The opposition complained that no mention of the mini-budget was made when the agenda for Monday's sitting was announced at the end of Wednesday's sitting. More importantly, it said the opposition leader could not be expected to react to the government's plans unless he had time to study them.

Opposition whip Robert Cutajar confirmed to Times of Malta that talks had since been held between the two sides and the mini-budget would not be presented in the House on Monday. A press conference is expected to be held instead.

No official announcement has yet been made. 

This will be the government's fourth economic stimulus package, made necessary by the Covid-19 crisis. The third and the most extensive was announced on March 24 and was intended at helping businesses retain their workforce. In it, the governemnt had said it would be subsidising private companies in sectors hardest hit by the Coronavirus outbreak to the tune of €800 per month per employee, with employers agreeing to fork out a further €400 per worker.