The Nationalist Party in its reaction to Budget 2026 said, “this is a budget that distributes money, increases debt which is now exploding to a new record of €14 billion, and forgets your problems, which will remain.”

The PN said it welcomes the fact that the Government “tried to copy its proposal to reduce tax for parents with children under eighteen, but even here, the increase does not even amount to half of what the PN proposed. This while no tax reduction was announced for single persons, couples whose children have grown up, couples without children and pensioners who feel the burden of the cost of living like everyone else.”

The PN went on to say that by the Finance Minister’s own admission, “the country’s debt will continue to rise in the coming years. Since Robert Abela was appointed Prime Minister, he has already created as much debt as all the previous Prime Ministers combined. Now Minister Clyde Caruana stated in the budget that by 2028 the debt will continue to rise from €11 billion as it stands today to a new record of €14 billion.”

This means that Robert Abela and Clyde Caruana will have tripled the debt, said the PN. It also means that the Maltese and Gozitans will continue paying almost one million euro in interest on debt every single day.

The PN also argued that “while you will be given €4.66 and will still pay tax on it, Ministers in this budget will be taking an increase of €1,700 per year, while the Government will continue adding burdens on the tourism sector by tripling the eco-tax. At the same time, this budget is clear proof that the Labour Government has given up on solving the problems it created itself.”

“Tomorrow you will still remain stuck in traffic and after Clyde Caruana got his way, the Labour Government still has not announced any plan for a mass transport system,” stated the PN.

“You will also continue waiting long hours at hospital to be served, you will still have to buy your medicines out of pocket, you will still struggle to cope with the rising cost of living, you will still face high prices to buy your first property, and you will still be left without an LSE for your son or daughter in schools,” it added.

The PN insisted that “above all, Labour has not addressed in this budget the main source of these problems – population growth without any plan. Nor has it addressed the country’s infrastructure, which is continuing to collapse. Not only that, but capital expenditure for projects in our country has been cut by no less than €100 million.”

The Nationalist Party concluded that “as for Gozo, in this budget the project for the construction of a new hospital has now completely disappeared. There is no mention whatsoever of new ferries or the building of a new Law Court. Similarly, the new hospital for mental health at national level has also disappeared.”

Photo: PN

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