Clyde Caruana:
'As far as I'm
concerned
Budget 2027 is
set in stone'
6
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 NOVEMBER 2026
INTERVIEW
FINANCE Minister Clyde
Caruana defends tooth and
nail Budget 2027's most con-
troversial measures impact-
ing non-EU workers.
He insists the measures
were intended to target the
public's most prominent con-
cern—overpopulation.
I sit down with Caruana in
a week when former prime
minister Alfred Sant de-
scribed the measures as "un-
just" and ineffective to ad-
dress overpopulation.
The finance minister is un-
fazed. He explains the meas-
ures are intended as a signal
to the market so it can focus
more on investing in capital,
automation, and technology,
rather than inflating its work-
force.
Caruana is disappointed
that the public discourse fol-
lowing the budget focused
more on these measures
rather than Malta's ability
to maintain the hefty energy
subsidies.
Looking at the big picture,
Caruana identifies troubled
European financial markets,
weak European governments,
and the unstable internation-
al energy market as external
threats that could impact
Malta's balance sheet. He says
that should the expenditure
on energy subsidies climb
higher, he will need to adjust
government expenditure to
keep the deficit below 3%.
Asked whether Budget 2027
is his stepping stone for any
future Labour Party leader-
ship race, Caruana denies
this outright, insisting he has
no leadership ambition what-
soever.
Clyde Caruana defends the budget
measures impacting third country
nationals when challenged on their
effectiveness and efficacy. The finance
minister sits down with Matthew
Farrugia to discuss the international
economic threats keeping him
occupied and his lack of desire to
become the next Labour leader
