WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT
WEDNESDAY EDITION
€1.00
WEDNESDAY • 7 SEPTEMBER 2022 • ISSUE 809 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY
EDITORIAL • PAGE 11
PAGE 3
PAGE 4 PAGE 6
Employers want
government to
cap COLA at €6
for next 5 years
Maltese most
optimistic
in the EU on
economy
JAMES DEBONO
MALTESE are the most optimistic on
their country's economic prospects in
what is an otherwise gloomy European
outlook, a Eurobarometer survey shows.
Malta is the only EU state where a rel-
ative majority expect the economic situ-
ation in their country to get better in the
next 12 months.
'No new taxes'
LUKE VELLA
FINANCE Minister Clyde Caruana
pledged that no new taxes or burdens
would be introduced in the upcoming
budget.
In his opening comments at a meeting
with the social partners on their budget
proposals, Caruana promised that gov-
ernment would not go down the auster-
ity route.
"I want to assure everyone that the
country is up to the current challeng-
es. We do not need to go down to the
austerity route and introduce new tax-
es. We will not add new burdens on the
taxpayers and businesses in any way,"
Caruana said.
The Finance Minister said people were
more anxious than usual about the con-
tents of this year's budget due to the
global circumstances.
Caruana said the economic challenges
presented by the war in Ukraine were
bigger than those during the pandemic.
"The metric with which one calculates
the resilience of the country is through
the national debt. Whilst the average
debt to GDP ratio for the euro zone
stands at around 100%, that of Malta is
under 60%, and I want it to remain that
way," Caruana said.
Addressing the rising energy prices, he
said that other European countries were
realising that they had to cover the costs
in order to avoid an economic collapse.
Clyde Caruana says the COLA in 2023 Budget will be
between €9 and €10 per week, insists country does not
need to go down austerity route
