Watch: Every Worker And Student In Malta To Get €100 Cheque, Pensioners To Get €200
Prime Minister Robert Abela has announced that every worker and student in Malta will receive a €100 cheque at home, while pensioners and people on social benefits will receive €200.
“This is a cash injection in the economy to generate economic activity,” Abela told a press conference. “The government gave everyone a €100 voucher twice during the pandemic to help particular sectors and we will now give this injection to everyone.”
This scheme is over and above the annual tax refund scheme, which will also be extended next year, with refunds oscillating between €60 and €140.
In total, the cheques amount to some €70 million.
“We will be your shield against the pandemic,” Abela said. “We will be a government that incentivises, not punishes, people.”
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said the scheme was only launched because the performance of the Maltese economy exceeded the government’s forecast.
“We were expecting to close 2021 with a deficit of 11.1% but thanks to the economy’s performance, we now expect it to go down to 8.1%. That margin has given us more room to manoeuvre.”
“We enjoy helping people, but as Finance Minister it gives me peace of mind that we’re only launching this scheme because we can do so without endangering the sustainability of our public finances at all.”
“Other countries, such as the UK, are telling their citizens to choose between warming their homes or doing other things because prices exploded. This shouldn’t be a choice that people have to make.”
What do you make of this?
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