Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1547312
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 OCTOBER 2026 Budget 2026 86% implemented Over the coming year, technological tools will be strengthened to give better visibility of the implementation status of each measure. This should help the administration identify and tackle challenges in good time, and help citizens understand how budget commitments are delivered in practice. The report also maps each Budget 2026 measure against the UN Sustainable Development Goals, an exercise the public service has carried out every year since 2019. More than half the measures contribute directly to social wellbeing and inclusion. The largest shares go to sustainable cities and communities (16.6 per cent), reduced inequalities (13.5 per cent) and good health and wellbeing (12.9 per cent). The figures come against a difficult international backdrop. Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz pushed up oil prices, and the European Central Bank raised interest rates. Despite this, Malta's economy grew by 3.9 per cent in real terms in the first quarter of 2026, its growth is projected to be the highest in the EU, and energy inflation remained at zero. Mr Sultana calls the publication, above all, "an instrument of transparency and accountability towards citizens." He describes it as evidence of how public institutions should work together effectively to deliver tangible results for the Maltese and Gozitan people. The public administration had carried out 86 per cent of the work needed to implement Budget 2026. The rate is expected to reach around 90 per cent by the close of the year, according to the latest edition of the annual budget implementation report. The publication, It-Twettiq tal-Baġit 2026, is issued by the Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary within the Office of the Prime Minister. It tracks the status of every budget measure, ministry by ministry. It also revisits measures from the 2022 to 2025 budgets, showing how commitments announced in earlier years have been completed. In his introduction, Principal Permanent Secretary Tony Sultana describes the report as an account of the work of the public administration, which is entrusted with carrying out government policy. It comes as the country approaches the announcement of Budget 2027. "The measures announced in the Budget must not remain commitments on paper," Mr Sultana writes, "but must be translated into concrete initiatives that lead to tangible results and improvements in people's lives." He places transparency and accountability at the heart of the exercise. Citizens, he says, should have clear information on how the government's commitments are being delivered and what progress has been made. This strengthens trust in public institutions and holds the administration responsible for the results it is expected to achieve. Mr Sultana credits public employees "at every level" as the driving force behind implementation. Their commitment, and their ability to adapt to improved ways of working, is what ensures the budget "does not remain merely a policy document, but becomes a tool for social and economic transformation."