The Budget for 2021 laid the ground for Malta to look to the future with confidence, Prime Minister Robert Abela told a press conference following the budget speech on Monday.

Speaking outside the Auberge de Castille, Abela said that at the core of the budget was the need to safeguard the country’s productive capacity amid the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was for this reason that the government had extended the wage supplement to at least March as this was the best way to safeguard workers and businesses.

“We are safeguarding what we have, but we also want to get even stronger,” Abela said.

He said that a €450 million project to revamp industrial estates and prepare for the economy of tomorrow had been developed with this eye to the future in mind.  

This was being balanced with a focus on the environment, including a commitment for carbon neutrality by 2050 and a ban on the importation of single-use plastic.

2020 was a milestone year where the Maltese showed their resilience, he said. 

Abela said that this year's budget - his first as prime minister - was the best budget Labour governments had unveiled in past years and said that it was intended to ensure people could look to the future with confidence.

Asked why there had not been more direct measures for families, such as a decrease in utility bills, the PM said while the government always wished it could do more, the budget was still very ambitious and it needed to address other priorities. 

“We need to look at this budget objectively at how it safeguards livelihoods and lives. We are still investing millions in schemes that will leave money in people’s pockets,” he said.